Pokemon: The Forgotten God
by FlameofTerror
Summary: In an alternative world, a girl with a haunting past befriends two deadly Pokémon that were destined to destroy life. She goes on a quest to take down an organization that is now threatening the world with their newer creations, with two girls who were foretold to intertwine their destinies. (The image for the cover is MINE do not take it! This story takes place on another planet)
1. Chapter 1

" _Some legends are born, most fail, but some are worthy of being told."_

 _~~The Story Begins~~_

Screams of agony rang through the chambers within a hidden organization. The screams were painful for everyone to hear, but they continued to run their tests without remorse. A girl sobbed softly, as gashes and burns decorated her body, she had no idea what they wanted, and she didn't know if she could give it to them even if she knew.

"She gives more blood, and the tests run better if she is under distress and under extreme pressure."

A voice echoed through the dark room, metal slabs decorated the walls, and a single red light flashed from above. Rust covered the old tank that contained a single girl, the glass tank was filled with water up to her chin. A man in a white lab coat pulled a lever, creating a fresh current of electricity to shock the girl no older than eleven.

The electricity wasn't enough to kill her, but it wouldn't tickle either. The girl screamed again, her body was smoking as tubes filled with dark red liquid. The tubes carried the liquid into jars, as a machine lit up measuring and calculating how much blood they could collect.

"Now, Lydia. Why don't you explain what happened on October twenty first." The malicious man said, resting his hand on the lever.

"I don't know, I don't remember, please let me go!" The girl recently identified as Lydia croaked.

The man shook his head, Lydia wanted to look into the man's eyes, so he could watch her squirm in pain. The man's face was covered by a mask, probably to hide him from the smell. He was accompanied by a younger woman, Lydia could tell by the body shape, and how often the female would flinch when the contained girl would scream in agony.

An arm from the machine surrounding Lydia in the tank filled with water jerked, before poking her with a syringe needle. Unidentified liquid spilled into her bloodstream, Lydia panted as she waited for the oncoming wave of pain.

The girl's eyes bugged, as her senses sharpened, her bruises and burns intensified. Fresh tears streamed down Lydia's face, as her matted black hair fell in her eyes. Her ponytail was messy, and her clothes were torn and burnt from the electricity. Lydia used to be full of life, but after months of this torture, she began to welcome death.

The covered man licked his lips in excitement, how fun this would be indeed.

"Your pain receptors have been coaxed to their maximum potential, you know how this works, tell us what we want to hear, or suffer for hours on end."

Lydia trembled, they kept asking about October twenty first, all she remembered is that she battled a man named Giovanni. The man who had her put in this cage, was the same man that made her scream and battle in rage on October twenty first. When she caught wind about a man that lead an organization called Team Rocket, she tracked him down and discovered his taste in experiments. She remembered the thousands of failed clones, all clumped together in a melted pile of goop.

Giovanni had explained that day that he was trying to make a weapon, one that would devastate the world. Lydia blacked out after he said that, and woke up outside Giovanni's base, lit up in flames.

That day Giovanni figured something out, and caused him to generate a plan that caused this much hurt and pain for Lydia. Giovanni had caused Lydia's best friend to betray her, and drop her off at Giovanni's front door.

The thought of once being close to that person made Lydia's stomach acid rise. Since the girl had already thrown up so many times do to pain, she didn't think she could muster another hatred themed vomit. The only people Lydia knew here in this tight room, were the ones who tortured her on a daily basis. They gave her the name Lydia, it was to make fun of her, it was a name meaning "beauty," which was something they were glad to tell her wasn't true.

Lydia's arms were bound by chains, the sores on her wrists were begging to touch air, but they would never let her out. The water helped secure her hanging weight, but the stretching in her arms was starting to pull her muscles apart.

"You are no ordinary girl, that much is true, but in here we control and own you!" The man said, taking his finger and turning the notch to full power.

The girl beside him tried to stop him, but when he shoved her aside, she whimpered before returning to his side. The man laughed darkly before twisting a knob, the machine beside the tank sparked, before the tubes that collected blood started to fill with green liquid.

"You have about twenty minutes before this acid eats your body, perhaps I will stop it, perhaps I won't."

Lydia lifted her head as the acid started eating away inside her body, her insides felt like they were burning and melting. Lydia refused to scream, it only gave the man more satisfaction as he tortured her.

"Why are you doing this Dr. Zager?" The female pleaded with her superior. Lydia couldn't take it anymore, her mouth opened, but she couldn't scream.

"Because I can, Giovanni asked me to get the answers he seeks, and if he questions my methods he can have fun trying to find another scientist!"

Dr. Zager took his mask off, letting Lydia see his face for the first time. His snowy white hair and mustache had strands of gray hair poking out, probably from no sleep. His eyes were twitching and crazed, and wrinkles were present in his face, he was too old to be doing this. The strain of no sleep and continuous research that involved torturing a little girl was going to weaken his body.

"This acid will never be as painful as the beautiful betrayal Giovanni prepared for you. Even if I wish for it to be so, unfortunately I cannot replicate the same damage for you."

Lydia soiled herself, her bladder was too frail to contain her waste. Her muscles were weak from being contained for months, she has not moved from the spot since she arrived. The pain made her stomach contract, and she threw up the last nutrients she had.

"Disgusting, look at you. I almost feel sorry for you, but alas, my research beckons me." Dr. Zager said, the female beside him took her mask off. Her brown hair was in a braid, she looked like a teenager, she had green eyes and a soft and sorrowful expression.

When the smell of Lydia's dirty and unsanitary state hit her nose, she flinched. The wails started up again, as Lydia's body shook violently as the acid rampaged through her delicate body. Dr. Zager watched in complete awe, as he recorded Lydia's results through a machine.

"Please stop, the acid is going to kill her! Giovanni will have your head if she dies!" The female said, tugging on Dr. Zager's arm frantically as he rubbed his mustache as thought for a moment.

Dr. Zager smiled, before turning to the broken girl in the glass tank.

"Alright, if Lydia agrees to call me her master, I will stop the acid and save her life, and perhaps give her a meal. I do think she would rather be fed, then go a few more days without food and water."

Lydia lifted her head, and gave Dr. Zager the nastiest look she could muster. The girl beside the scientist held her breath, and silently prayed that the trapped test subject would just obey her superior. Lydia's chest was heaving as the acid started poisoning her lungs, with the last bit of strength Lydia had, she filled her cheeks with saliva before spitting on the glass in front of her.

Dr. Zager's face filled with rage, as he shocked Lydia with another series of painful volts. He didn't care if she died, he did what Giovanni asked anyways, he collected blood samples and concluded that she was the lost person they were looking for.

Perhaps Giovanni would be mad for a few days that he killed her, but he would have his army, and the threat would be eliminated. The giant metal doors burst open, and Lydia saw bright light for the first time in ages. A young man accompanied by a Golbat ran into the room, infuriating the scientist even more.

"Dr. Zager! The test subject its-" the man was stopped by the furious scientist.

"I don't care, you grunts should know not to bother me in my time of work! Get out, before I throw you into the tank with this pathetic excuse for a human!"

The grunt swallowed hard, before scampering out of the room with the Golbat trailing behind. The girl standing beside the doctor, knew what other subject they were keeping behind these metal walls. They were specifically pumping Lydia's blood into it, to keep it under control and to keep it from awakening.

She didn't know why Lydia's blood controlled the Pokémon, Dr. Zager figured it all out, but refused to explain why it worked. It was sickening to think that they were only keeping Lydia alive to study the rare chemical in her blood, so that they could re-create it and feed it to the Pokémon they were creating.

The Shi Pokémon, that is what it was called, it was evil and one would not need to know much to understand that it was made to bring death.

"You are going to regret the day you crossed me!" Dr. Zager exclaimed, before he jammed his hand on a button. The machine shook and spewed smoke and sparks before the tubes lit up with poisonous liquids of all sorts. Lydia was too weak to do anything, to weak to scream, to weak to even move.

A metallic taste came into Lydia's mouth as her life force started seeping out of her body. She would die today, she already knew it, and in all her suffering she just hoped that something would get justice for her.

Something exploded behind the metal doors, it made such a big impact on the building that pieces from the ceiling fell. Dr. Zager turned from Lydia, his focus was ripped away for once in his life. Shouts and screams came from beyond the door, fire, electricity and ice from attacks lit up the room from the small cracks in the door.

Something sliced through the air and all was silent behind the doors.

"Quick barricade the doors, and protect me! Do it now, I am your superior!" Dr. Zager cried, shutting down the noisy machine, and luckily cutting off the flow of poisonous liquids going into Lydia. The tortured girl took a deep breath of air once the acid stopped eating away at her body, and could finally move without being paralyzed.

Dr. Zager's body guard shivered in fear, as she slid a giant bolt through the door's handles. It was there just incase the building was attacked, but the female felt it was wrong to trap the grunts out there, with whatever was out there. The girl could hear the last of the grunts slamming their hands on the doors, begging to be let in, as something tore through their Pokémon.

"Don't you dare let them in, they are expendable, I am far more important!" Dr. Zager commanded. His assistant obeyed, she squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the painful cries of the grunts from beyond the doors. In minutes everything was silent again, they both heard footsteps on the outside, slowly creeping towards the door.

The crack below the door revealed a shadow, that was casted along the floor of the room. The thing just stood there, whatever the creature was, the power could be felt all throughout the room.

Suddenly something threw itself against the door, making a large dent in the metal. The hard substance the door was made from was no match against the creature's strength, as the steel bent to the will of the monster.

The bolt snapped in half, and the doors burst from the hinges, slamming on the ground in front of the scientist. Pokémon lay in heaps behind the creature, smoke rose from the knocked-out bodies of the grunts, as the monster stepped into the room.

A single core made of purple light gleamed on the creature's chest, it had a humanoid figure, and a long thick tail. Its head was mostly normal, but on the side of its face its structure was jagged. It had bright purple eyes, and two sharp but short horns that curled towards each other. Two tubes came from back of its skull to the top of its spine, it had a muscular form and a chest that looked like a breastplate. It had three digits on its hand, with short claws extending from its fingertips, along with three spherical tips as its toes coming out of its foot. The creature also had claws coming from its three toes, its skin was black as night, almost as if it were a shadow.

Its tail came up to its belly, before going in-between its long legs and flowing behind it growing thinner before ending in a small bulb. Between its lower back and tail, red blunt spines decorated the creature in a straight line before ending abruptly in the middle of its red tail.

"Protect me assistant Cacao!" The terrified scientist said. The now identified female known as Cacao stood in fear as the creature scanned the room with its purple eyes. Cacao fumbled the pokéballs on her waist, the success rate of defeating this super creature were very little.

The beast stomped over to the cowering scientist, it was a little taller than him, but it leaned over so it was eye level to him. Dr. Zager shook as if he were freezing to death, the creature's fury could be seen in its eyes. Dr. Zager's heart thundered in his chest as the beast's hot breath tickled his face.

This creature was the test subject that he was feeding Lydia's blood to, he had no idea how it awoke, and he also had no idea how to stop it. The rage that the Pokémon was feeling, and what it would do to him, scared the doctor beyond anything.

The man's body couldn't take how fast his heart was beating, his fear was causing his body to collapse on itself. Dr. Zager fumbled with something behind him, a piece of metal that had flown from the broken doors had landed on the panel behind him. The doctor grabbed the piece of metal, before slamming it into the test subject's face.

The creature stumbled back from the surprise attack, it put its hand to its face, touching the fresh wound over its right eye. It left a direct mark from the top of its eye all the way down to its bottom eye.

The Pokémon grabbed Dr. Zager and lifted him up off the ground, Cacao held her breath, but she was too terrified to do anything else. The experiment swished its tail, as its claws poked the scientist. Dr. Zager couldn't breathe, he was frozen in fear, all he could do was watch the creature's lips part.

"What I could do to you, is nothing compared to what you deserve."

The voice of the Pokémon was so calm but so full of anger, it rocked Dr. Zager's core in his soul. Nothing could scare the doctor more then his own life at the hands of something he created.

He now knew the price of creating the 'Death Pokémon.'

Dr. Zager clutched his chest, the fear and his feeble body had had enough, his heart was his own demise. The Shi Pokémon dropped his creator, and stepped back in surprise as Dr. Zager gasped for air. His body twitched, and spasmed as he tried to crawl his way to an unknown destination.

The doctor rested his head on the ground, taking his last breath of air, before not moving again.

Cacao watched as the phantom turned to her, its expression shot daggers at her, and she didn't waste any time in fleeing from it.

The creation didn't chase her down, it was too interested in the girl hanging from chains inside a tank. Lydia's breathing was slow, she was hardly alive, her wounds were so severe if anyone were to move her too quickly or too harshly, she wouldn't make it.

The creature rested its hand on the glass, its claws scratching the surface as it cocked its head to the side.

Lydia slowly rose her head to look at a black blob in front of her, her head was spinning, and her vision was blurry. The creature stared at her, they both looked at each other, time seemed to stop as they each examined the other.

Lydia coughed before uttering final words to the freed experiment, "Hurry, leave before they call reinforcements."

Lydia's head dropped, and her body went limp.

The creature flexed its hand, the glass cracked, and the pressure of the water inside the tank made the weakened glass explode. Shards of glass scattered on the floor before being swept away by a current of gross and dirty water. The water ran over the creature's feet, as it examined the girl up close.

The water was drained, and Lydia hung loosely from the chains binding her to the tank. The creature stepped into the dry cage, as it eyed the girl from afar, Lydia did not respond.

The creature reached out, it pulled back for a second, before touching the girl's hanging body. The Shi Pokémon's eyes lit up, and the core on its chest responded to its commands. The chains released the girl, and she slowly drifted to the ground and rested on the cold floor of her empty prison.

The black and red Pokémon gently knelt down, before scooping the fatally wounded girl in its arms. It gently stepped over the broken glass, holding the girl close to its chest, as hundreds of advancing footsteps emerged from the outside.

The creature's core reacted, and its psychic power blew a hole through the many floors of the underground base. The reinforcements arrived, the grunts were horrified at what stood in front of them, waiting to take them all on.

Fortunately for them, it seemed the experiment had other plans.

With a powerful jump, the creature flew up the hole in the roof, and blasted through the other floors until it burst through the last layer. It sliced through the air and in seconds, and it disappeared from sight, leaving the grunts to wonder where it had gone, and why it chose to take the girl with it.

~Two Years Later~

 _Thump Thump_

Metal footsteps echoed throughout the night, the moon shined brilliantly, showing a path for a shadow emerging from the rooftops. The flat roofs of the buildings were an ideal place for an ambush. An axe that seemed to be forged from the heart of a volcano dragged behind the mysterious person. Sparks were left behind the wake of the axe, as the armored being dragged the weapon across the concrete.

The heavy armor shifted as the being held a mighty shield in its other hand, reflecting the moonlight on its shiny surface. The armor covered every inch of the person's body, but the elbows and fingers had chainmail instead of steel. The helmet was the most striking out of the entire suit, it had the face of a dragon, the mouth was open slightly enough for one to realize that the dragon had two jaws.

Giant teeth decorated the sides of the jaws, but the mouth wasn't open enough to where the wearer was revealed. The craft of the helmet was astonishing, the horns of the dragon-head were sharp and masterfully planned, so perfect, one might wonder if a blacksmith could possibly create something like it.

Two eye holes were present in the helmet, along with fins coming out on the side of the skull. Chainmail covered the being's neck, to where it could move freely and swiftly. The wearer had muscular arms, and the bulky armor made the being look sizable.

The steel on the axe the human wielded seemed to be burning. Small embers ran along the inside of the metal, making it look as if there were lava running through the cracks in the metal. The axe was double-sided, with a curved blade made of golden metal, and stuck at the bottom of the axe was a dragon skull.

The dragon skull had ruby eyes, and a gaping mouth, and the dragon-skull held the same features as the helmet the human wore.

The small embers on the axe lit the way for the being, as it suddenly crouched. It rested the bottom of the axe on the ground, as it looked over the edge of the building looking at a very boring and unexciting building directly in front of it.

The armored knight was still, as the night air was silent, no person or thing dared to make a sound. The being shifted once again, before taking its hand and smoothing its fingers over a Pokéball. It was white, and it had red outlining the button in the center, and outlining where the Pokéball breaks into two parts.

The single Pokéball shook responding to its master's touch, twitching and moving slightly almost to protest something. The being ignored its partner's frantic shaking, before picking itself up off the ground and standing against the building ahead of it.

"This is what you trained me for."

The being spoke, for the first time in a long night of silence. It's voice was distorted, hiding its true volume and identity. Without another word, the being leapt off of the building, falling several stories before slamming on the concrete below. The pavement cracked under the weight and force of the landing, as night guards looked at the shining armor that the being wore.

The guards patrolling the building were shocked, but for some reason they were prepared. Suddenly with a flash of red light, a beast snarled at the knight, baring its fangs and preparing to guard its master with its life.

"Arcanine, take the intruder down with flamethrower!" The guard commanded, as the canine Pokémon's orange pelt riddled with flames. The beast opened its jaws as a sea of flames erupted from its mouth, swallowing the knight and everything in its path. The concrete was scorched, and it turned the lamp posts illuminating the city to a melted pile of metal.

The Arcanine seemed satisfied with its attack, and the guard relaxed to know that the threat was over.

When the smoke cleared, the knight stood firmly on the ground, not a scratch on it. The Arcanine cried out in surprise, and the guard was baffled, nothing could withstand the heat from an Arcanine!

"My turn," The knight said.

With that cue, a burst of white light appeared from within the Pokéball the being carried. Emerald light burst into the night sky, washing over everything that stood in its way. The power resonating from the forming figure, seemed to overwhelm even the Arcanine that cowered behind its master.

A long serpentine body that levitated in the air appeared, its emerald green skin shimmered in the moonlight. Red-tipped rudder-like wings stretched out in twos on its back, but split into threes two times down its back. Yellow menacing circle-like symbols ran along its smooth body, and a single large circle rested on the top of its head.

It had two skinny arms, but attached to its fingers were long sharp claws. It was a large creature, nearly seventy feet in length. It stood tall, wrapping its tail behind it and opening its jaws. Its head had a bulky V-shape and two long green horns poking out of its head that were flat, along with two smaller horns along its jawline. It had pink gums, and two sharp fangs on its upper jaw.

Its yellow eyes locked on its opponent, as its throat rumbled and flames surrounded its jaws. With a puff of air, flames spat out engulfing the entire street and melting the concrete. The grunt fled, leaving his Arcanine to suffer the wrath of the godly creature. The Arcanine's flash fire ability couldn't help it, the flames ate through the creature's thick pelt, and the beast couldn't absorb the flames fast enough.

The Arcanine was defeated in seconds, it crashed on the ground twitching and shaking.

The dragon-like creature's jaws were smoking as it lifted its head in triumph. The armored knight seemed unamused, as it stroked the dragon's side, before departing from the creature and walking up the steps to the building ahead.

All the other guards have fled the scene, leaving behind all the hope they had for keeping their jobs or their lives.

"Come Rayquaza, we have work to do." The knight commanded, as the dragon followed without a sound.

The door was heavily locked from the inside, when the human tried to open the door, it refused to budge. The knight shook the door, but it did not move, the boring building was hiding something, but what was interesting was if the building was hiding something why such little security?

The newly identified Pokémon named Rayquaza blinked in concentration, he wondered how he would fit in such a small building. The dragon's jaws started to glow, the knight hid under its shield, as a blast of blue and purple energy destroyed the door and pretty much most of the building's front entrance.

The smoking pile of concrete and steel sizzled from the attack, as the knight brushed off the smoke from its shield. A newly created opening was now accessible, and the knight could easily step into the building.

The inside was made completely out of red steel, low red lights hung from the ceiling, as a single warp panel flashed in the back. This was no normal building indeed, it was camouflaged as a normal building to the public eye, but the knight knew better.

Rayquaza whimpered from the outside, he couldn't go through the warp panel, or really get into the building.

The knight turned to the dragon, looking at him for a minute before giving a command.

"Wait here, I can handle myself."

The armored being then calmly walked through the silent steel building, before settling on the warp panel. The panel started to light up, before zapping the knight into another room. Once the human recovered, it shifted its armor before standing in front of a horde of people dressed in black uniforms and holding highly advanced guns.

The guns were giant, and had chambers with bright neon blue liquids running through tubes. The people holding them were dressed in sharp uniforms, and were orderly placed in a giant triangle. There were about thirty of them, each of them holding a very dangerous and deadly weapon. The knight had no way out, expect for a door in the back of the room. Cracks in the walls in the shape of squares could be seen, but the knight couldn't figure out what they were for.

A man dressed in a black uniform with red highlights on his biceps stepped forward. He had a white belt with bulky squares on his waist, along with white gloves and white boots. His collar had a yellow outline around the rim, and he wore a black hat to cover his green hair.

"Dragon Knight, we have foreseen your arrival, we are required to use deadly force if you do not surrender peacefully to Team Rocket."

The grunts raised their guns, the man who had spoken seemed to be important in this organization identified as Team Rocket.

The knight was outnumbered, there was no way out, no way to go expect to surrender, or to die.

The man that seemed to be an Admin, smiled as the knight dropped its fiery axe on the metal floor. The axe made a sizzling sound, as the grunts lowered their guns when the Admin clapped slowly.

"That's a good boy, now I Proton shall be the one to welcome out new prisoner."

The knight now seen as a male clenched his fist, as Proton took out a metal stick, that for some reason would be used to contain the knight. Proton looked back up, only to see the knight flex his arm and spin around throwing the shield with blinding speed. The shield sliced though the air, before slamming into Proton's face knocking him back into a few grunts.

The grunts raised their guns and immediately fired, the knight caught his shield, as the liquid blasts splattered on the knight's protective piece of armor. The knight held his ground, as the living liquid energy tried to eat away at the shield.

The knight charged holding the shield in front of him, as he slammed into the first grunt that he could find. The grunt stumbled back, as the other lackeys frantically tried to get back into formation and shoot without harming any other followers.

The grunt tried to grab his gun, but he was hit in the head with the side of the knight's shield and was immediately out. The knight recovered from his attack, hiding behind the shield again as the grunt behind the one that was attacked lifted its gun and fired.

The blast stuck onto the shield, dissolving instantly when it couldn't digest the shield. The knight threw the shield and it bounced off of one lackey's head, over to another one knocking them both out before returning to its master.

Another blast hit the knight from behind, knocking him forward a little bit, but only making him angrier. The follower swallowed hard and tried to flee, only to be grabbed by his shirt and thrown onto the floor. The knight kicked him hard in the head, and he was slipped into unconsciousness.

The knight shielded itself with his shield again, knowing his armor could take a few hits from the liquid energy, but not many. The four grunts firing at the knight unleashed all the ammo they had on the male, and soon the trigger wouldn't respond when they wanted to fire, only making soft clicks.

The knight could almost be seen smiling, as he emerged from behind his circular shield. The grunts pulled out the other weapons they had, which were tiny pocket knives used for opening boxes and cutting through tape.

The first lackey charged swinging his knife wildly, clearly not trained very well on close up combat.

The knight caught the grunt's wrist, before twisting it, and slamming his fist into the grunt's stomach. He took the grunt's arm, and with the position the grunt was in, he couldn't resist following the movements of the knight.

The grunt was turned to where his back was facing the knight, before he was kicked hard in the back making him fly into the other three grunts that were cheering for their teammate to win.

The grunts were all knocked over, and were still conscious but struggling to get untangled.

The knight was surrounded by three more Team Rocket companions in a triangle, they all lifted their guns, and fired. The knight couldn't shield himself from all three in the angle they were standing in, so he decided to deflect the blows of the two closet together, but the third behind the knight got a direct hit.

The liquid sizzled when it hit the knight's back, eating away at the steel on the armor. The male grunted in pain, before throwing the shield with lightning speed at the first grunt in front of him. The grunt was knocked back, the knight then caught the shield and deflected the next shot from the grunt behind him, before knocking that follower out as well with another shield toss.

The last grunt lifted his gun, as the knight threw his shield at him. The grunt had quicker reflexes, and crouched low to avoid the shield. The knight's only protection went flying through the air before knocking itself on the wall, and clattering a few feet away.

The knight tried to recover the fallen shield, but the last of the grunts took the opportunity to surround the defenseless knight. Proton emerged from the grunts, holding his hand to his giant bruised forehead.

"A very brave display, but let's see how many blasts it will take to break that armor of yours!"

Proton snatched a gun from one of his lower class mates, Proton had a wild and murderous look in his eyes as the grunts stepped back to let him have the deadly blow.

A bright blue light emerged from the muzzle, collecting all the energy in the gun for one giant deadly blast. Proton laughed psychotically as the knight stood firm in a sturdy stance, neither of them backing down.

The whiplash from the gun when it fired, caused Proton to slide back a little. The giant blast of energy took every bit of ammo the gun had, but the amount of power it had collected would kill any Pokémon or anyone on the spot.

The knight put his arms in an X position, as the blast hit his arms and exploded. Smoke covered the room, shaking the floor and ceiling as the explosion caused cracks in the steel.

Proton was proud of eliminating a threat that stalked Team Rocket for a long while now, the Dragon Knight was no more.

The grunts put down their weapons, and stopped shielding their faces from the smoke as everything died down. The smoke cleared, and standing in the middle of the circle of grunts was the Dragon Knight.

The Knight was breathing heavily, and Proton couldn't believe his eyes!

"That's impossible, how on earth could you survive something like that?"

The knight didn't reply, as blue energy sparked around his fists and wrists. The knight seemed to be enduring the energy, it was eating away at his hands and arms, but he was still alive and moving. He shielded most of his body from the blast, and his arms absorbed the impact.

The knight looked at the sizzling and smoking blue acid-like energy, the pain was excruciating, but the chainmail protected the knight's fingers from any permanent damage, well, for a little while.

The grunts and Proton were astonished at how powerful their foe was, Proton was sweating furiously as he threw a few grunts in front of him.

"Attack, ATTACK I say, do not fail me!" Proton screamed, the Team Rocket minions were beside themselves with fear.

The chainmail and steel wouldn't last very long, the knight needed to fight and wipe the acid off at the same time.

The Dragon Knight had nothing but his fists, but Proton knew that the male would manage. Proton hid behind the grunts as they cried out in power, and charged, shooting all the ammo they had in one last attempt to destroy the target.

The knight grabbed a grunt and shielded himself with him, the grunt screamed for the others to not shoot, but they did so anyways. The grunt was screaming in agony as the acid ate away at his suit, the knight threw the lackey aside before punching the nearest grunt in the head.

The energy sparked, as it sent the grunt flying with an explosion. It seemed like the knight really had a weapon after all.

The armored man simply devastated the Rocket army, with his energy charged punches, the explosions knocked out several grunts at once. A minion swung a fist clutching a knife at the knight, the male leaned back to avoid the blade even though his armor would deflect it.

The grunt put too much power in his swing, and was knocked off balance, causing him to expose his left shoulder blade.

The knight karate chopped downwards on the off-balance grunt, the acid jumped from the knight's hand to the victim. The contact caused an mini explosion, knocking several grunts trying to ambush the fighting knight into the wall.

When the knight turned only four opponents remained, three of them being grunts and the last being Proton.

Twenty six Team Rocket members lay unconscious on the steel floor, each of them with an injury they would never forget.

The acid still ate away at the knight's chainmail covered fingers, it burned and hurt, but he was not going to stop his mission because of a little pain.

Proton was hiding behind three minions with guns, they prepared to fire three ultimate shots at their target, not even knowing if they would survive the blast themselves.

The guns started to light up at the muzzle, Proton screamed at them to hurry up. The grunts looked at each other in fear and in respect that this might be their last battle together, but Proton was too focused on killing the enemy to realize that as well.

Before they could fire, the knight shifted into a sturdy stance, before slamming his arms in an X.

The chemical reaction from the acid hitting each other caused a massive energy shockwave. The energy left the Knight's arms to get sucked into the massive wave of destruction exploding its way to the grunts.

The blue light devoured the helpless grunts, it shocked their guns rendering them useless. The grunts screamed as the acid cloud devoured their clothes and stung their eyes, before shocking them with energy.

The Team Rocket companions fell to the floor, twitching and spasming occasionally as sparks of blue energy surfaced from their bodies.

The Dragon Knight was victorious, every enemy had fallen, but the battle had just begun.

The victor collected his items, reuniting with his axe and shield once again. The knight stepped over the bruised and beaten grunts, before making his way to Proton. Surprisingly Proton was still awake, probably because he used human shields to hide behind and didn't get the worse of the attack.

Spots of blue energy was eating away at his clothes, and electricity surged through his hair and boots. He laid on the floor squirming in pain, when he saw the knight towering over him, he shielded his face.

The armored male grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him along the ground before throwing him into a wall. Proton was beyond scared at this point, his dignity and crude attitude went directly down the drain when he started begging for his life.

"Now, now, lets not make any rash decisions, for my life I will tell you everything you want to know."

The knight was silent, he just stared at Proton, swinging his axe slowly beside his leg. Proton shook nervously as the murderous aura plunged into a deeper atmosphere, each second that went by.

"Okay I can see that you do not talk much, that is alright, for I am the one that will do all the talking for you." Proton said, when the knight brought the axe up to his head in an attacking position, Proton blurted out all he could to make the male cease his attack.

Proton put his hands to his face before a sea of pleads and excuses flooded out of his mouth.

"Please! Giovanni knew you were coming, I completely went against his plan, but Giovanni would have had me killed. I am on your team, trust me, here, I will point you right to Giovanni right now! Enter the door behind me, and walk onto the warp panel and you will go to his office!"

The knight lowered his axe, Proton relaxed, thinking the knight got what he wanted. The experienced fighter opened the door and sure enough a warp panel was in the back of the hall, activated and ready to go.

The knight turned back to Proton, and the Admin flinched as the male walked back over to him.

"You disgust me," The knight said as he bashed his shield into Proton's skull knocking him unconscious.

The warrior then left the room filled with his fallen enemies, the knight's heart was beating quicker with each step he took in the dark hall. Banners with the Team Rocket logo adorned the hallway, swaying gently as the knight walked through.

The knight lifted his axe, and as soon as the blade touched the banners, little embers spread through the fabric. The knight walked through the hallway, dragging the axe along the wall, and lighting the banners in flames as he walked.

Soon enough the entire left side of the hallway was covered in bright burning flames that ate the banners.

The warp panel was a few feet away, shining brightly and spreading a strange scary vibe the closer the knight got to it.

The prepared warrior stepped on the warp panel, and as light surrounded him he clutched the axe so hard he forgot his fingers were injured from the acid.

"I am coming for you Giovanni," The knight growled, his body vanishing in a bright light.

The knight appeared in a ray of light onto another warp panel, this time in a dark room with a large and wide screen of glass. The glass window was thick, and it overlooked the city that was now shrouded in darkness.

A man stood with his back to the knight, looking out the window towards the dead city in front of him. His hands were behind his back, and it seemed like he wore a very expensive black suit. His hair was smoothed back, in a very expensive and professional manner. He had brown hair, and black shoes, but the front of him was hidden by shadows.

The man did not move, even when the knight walked forward. He was calm and very far from afraid, even though he had no defenses.

"Ah, so my suspicions were correct, you would come. Good, all the rumors I spread seemed to serve me well."

The knight may have left all the other grunts alive, but for some reason when Giovanni spoke the knight trembled in rage, just itching to drive a blade into his skull.

"You speak so confidently, even though your life will end here today," The knight replied.

Giovanni seemed to be holding a glass of liquid in his left hand, he calmly turned and took a sip of it. He made a satisfied sound, before turning around to face the knight with a smirk.

Giovanni looked at his drink, swirling the rest of it by spinning the glass.

"You know this drink is a lot like you, rare and resourceful, you know what I am talking about don't you Dragon Knight?"

The knight flinched, before threatening the boss of Team Rocket again.

"How stupid are you to be here alone, has the great leader of Team Rocket lost his touch?"

Giovanni chuckled, sipping from his glass once again before lowering his hand and smiling at the angered being.

"I see the metal parasite has taken a liking to you, you're welcome for the suit of armor by the way. It took millions in cash to perfect it, it is a very formidable weapon don't you agree? But I guess one could easily steal it, you made that pretty clear."

The knight squeezed the handle on the axe even tighter, before the knight's dragon helm shifted and melted away into a liquid-like substance. The liquid curled away from the wearer's face, revealing a darker skin tone, and bright blue eyes.

Long black hair fell down the knight's back, and side swept bangs could be seen on the knight's forehead.

The knight was now identified as a teenager, and a female one at that.

"Ah," Giovanni said, he didn't seem very surprised, but he seemed a little excited. "I had assumed it was you from the start, I just didn't know two years of solitude and hiding could create such a mess for Team Rocket. You must have trained for years on end to have such skill, but all just to get your revenge? Doesn't seem like a very fun path to be on, isn't that right Lydia."

The girl formally known as Lydia clenched her teeth angrily, she would take her sweet time eliminating Giovanni.

"Do not call me by that name, you should be wise to tread lightly, I am debating whether to kill you quickly or slowly."

Giovanni turned to look back out the window, staring at the tall buildings and taking note of everything around him.

"I am assuming the escaped Shi Pokémon had something to do with your new talents, and the other one, the useless one, is he with you as well?"

Lydia's sanity broke, as she jumped into the air raising her axe to slice Giovanni in half.

"Do not call Lupe useless! You cowardly fiend!" Lydia screamed, her axe made contact with Giovanni, but instead of hitting flesh she hit air. Lydia's face was full of surprise as she tumbled on the ground, her axe clattering on the ground a few feet away from her.

Lydia was shocked, her attack went right through Giovanni as if he were made of air!

"Silly Lydia, you didn't think I would actually be here would you?" Giovanni laughed, taking another sip from his drink and enjoying Lydia struggling to accept that she was outsmarted.

"You are a hologram! You coward!" Lydia shouted, but Giovanni just chuckled as tears started to from in Lydia's eyes.

"Aww, do not cry Lydia, you will indeed see me soon, but you will see me from the other side of your tank!" Giovanni said.

Lydia blinked the tears away and was back to being filled with rage.

"I am never going back there! I would rather die!" Lydia screamed, but she couldn't push away the painful thoughts of being trapped and helpless.

"You won't have a choice, I have rigged this building with gas, I have deadly gas and gas that will take you under. I was going to use the toxic gas to kill the Dragon Knight, but I need you alive now that I have confirmed its you, sweet Lydia."

Lydia was shocked as she replied, "You would have killed your own men with that gas!"

Giovanni shrugged, giving Lydia that infuriating smile that drove her to insanity.

"Perhaps it would have, that is the price I will pay to have a threat eliminated. The gas has been turned on, and all the warp panels shut down, good luck getting out of this one." Giovanni's hologram faltered, as it got ready to disappear. "Oh, and one last thing Lydia, the glass there is bullet proof, I want you to take a good long look at what the outside looks like before I have you again!"

Lydia knew Giovanni was a hologram, but she couldn't help trying to tackle him again, she of coarse went through him.

Giovanni gave one last smirk, before disappearing in a bright light. Lydia was freaking out, the smell of the gas was making her tired. Red gas leaked through the vents and was pouring into the room. Lydia's armor reacted and covered her face with her dragon helmet once again. The silvery liquid covered her face momentarily before hardening and taking form of the helm.

The helmet would only provide a temporary gas mask, she needed to get out of the room and quickly. Everything was shut down, Lydia ran over to the warp panels, and slammed her fists on them, but they did not react.

Lydia coughed, she shouldn't have come, not alone that is. She had friends that would have protected her, but she left them because she was so blinded by her craving for revenge she walked right into a trap.

Giovanni specifically spread those rumors, so they would reach Lydia's ears, she heard that the boss of Team Rocket would be hiding out in a city nearby. She did some digging (knocking a few Team Rocket member's heads) and found out the weird concrete building was actually a Team Rocket base.

Lydia had minutes to react, the only other way to get out was to break the glass. The girl knew she wasn't strong enough to break bullet proof glass, she needed something big and heavy to break the glass.

Her mind lit up instantly, Rayquaza was a big dragon, he could smash the glass with ease! Lydia knew Rayquaza could break the glass, but the problem was calling him, the glass was so thick that it provided a soundproof barrier, so her calls wouldn't be loud enough to reach the dragon.

Lydia was getting weaker she had to use all her strength to beat upon the glass, praying that Rayquaza would hear her.

Lydia picked up her axe and stumbled over to the glass, banging her blade against it. The glass vibrated with each hit, but not enough to break it, or to scratch it.

Lydia was wasting energy, and she needed all the energy she could muster just to keep herself awake. The teenager dropped to the floor, wheezing and coughing as the gas finally broke into her helmet.

She took a whiff of the gas and felt extremely weakened to where she couldn't move. With all her might, and with the last drop of energy and strength she had she opened her mouth and screamed-

"RAYQUAZA!"

Lydia closed her eyes, accepting the fact that she had lost this battle.

 _BANG_

Lydia was jolted awake by the sound of something smashing its head against the glass. Lydia weakly lifted her head to see her dragon companion smashing his head into the thick glass, each impact made a huge crack in it.

With one final jab with his head, the glass shattered, causing huge chunks to fall downwards and crush the concrete below it. Rayquaza roared, as the red gas flowed out of the room and into the night sky. Lydia could breathe, and she quickly filled her lungs with fresh air.

Rayquaza gently took his claws and wrapped them around Lydia, scooping her up and taking her away from the gas.

The dragon flew higher into the sky until he touched the misty clouds that hung over the town. Lydia panted as Rayquaza kept her close, the dragon had saved her life, and heard her desperate cries.

Rayquaza purred, as he opened his claws allowing Lydia to climb onto his back. The cool night air had flushed the gas from Lydia's system, and she was finally able to concentrate. She looked to the moon, and thanked the stars above that Giovanni didn't recall her having a massive legendary God on her team.

"Kiryarararaaahhh!" Rayquaza cried, his dragon sounds echoing through the clouds.

"Let's go back to camp Rayquaza, I have had enough fighting and danger for one night." Lydia said, the dragon nodded before moving through the clouds. The dragon moved faster and faster picking up speed, until he was just a blur of emerald green causing static in the sky.

In seconds Rayquaza and Lydia were gone, leaving nothing but a trail of dismembered clouds, and a destroyed Team Rocket building behind in their wake.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Wow that girl can really make a mess of things."_

 _A person stepped over the mass of thick glass scattered around the shadowy room. Heavy breathing could be heard through a gas mask, as the last remaining essence of the red mist slowly leaked out the smashed window. The unidentified young adult was covered in head to toe with protective gear, thick rubbery gloves covered their hands, and a one suit consisting of shiny elastic material covered their body. Cool night air blew through the window, as the person ran its hand along the jagged edges of a thick piece of glass that had fallen onto the ground._

 _Something big had smashed its way through an impenetrable fortress, it was clear millions had gone into the facility, and the security was top notch. The impossible had been done, the base was inescapable, built to keep anything contained._

 _Astonishingly someone had blown through the wall of grunts, avoided the gas, survived the high-tech guns the organization created, and broke the expensive twelve-inch bullet proof glass. The dozens of bodies had energy burns, bruises the size of footballs on their bodies, and concussions, but the person had left them alive._

 _The young adult slowly put its hands up to their mask, gently tugging at the top, before lifting it off their head._

 _Short black hair blew in the breeze, as the face of the stranger was revealed._

 _A woman no older than nineteen took a deep breath of the gas-free room, her black hair blowing freely in the breeze. She did not seem to be part of the organization, and she looked like she was treading among her own path. Even though the women seemed careless of stepping into dangerous grounds, she had a mission at hand._

 _A small Pokémon nuzzled the girl's leg, she turned to it, letting the silvery moonlight touch her face. She had white porcelain skin, and a mysterious shade of red in her eyes. Even though her eyes were not very revealing, one could tell she was a little on the odd side._

" _Oh Aster, did you find something? Just what I'd expect from such a smart girl!"_

 _The women smiled at her Pokémon, the short baby-like Pokémon made a happy sound before lifting its body up to hand her master the item it had found._

 _The Pokémon had a spherical body, consisting of a purple color. Her eyes were in the shape of a plus sign, they were black and full of love for her master. Two floppy ears with yellow tips fell over her face, and two stubby arms stuck out from her body._

 _The women took the item from her Pokémon's mouth, and examined it. The object was created with careful craft, it seemed to be made from a flat shiny light-blue metal. Wires curled into the object on the back, and it released a smoky aroma when the women played with it. It looked like the object was only to be used once before self-destructing, so something could remain hidden._

 _The female stroked the "R" sticking out in the front, she knew the object had something to do with Team Rocket obviously, but the little device was hiding something._

" _Very clever Giovanni, you used a hologram and then destroyed the device to hide your location."_

 _The women slid the device in her left pocket before taking out a strange beeping device out of her right pocket. The item had two antennas sticking out of its head, and a screen showing what looked like to be a GPS that was glitching out._

 _The mysterious girl slapped her device, as it glitched, its little red dot zooming all over the screen._

" _Where are you hiding Zala, you and Rayquaza are the only ones who can help us now."_

" _Murr," the Pokémon beside the women purred, shivering as they both stood there, relying on the device to locate their target._

" _Dang, the air patterns have already depleted, their trail might be lost by now, we got here too late."_

 _Suddenly the night sky lit up, and a beam of white light surrounded the girl, illuminating the room and blinding the women. The women hid her eyes from the light, staggering back in surprise._

 _Giant silent aircrafts hovered in the sky, the flying objects had a short nose, with thick dark glass stretching overtop of the nose. The object was black, several hundred feet in length, and it had long arms coming out from the body. The arms had several heavy metal wires connecting to them and the body, making it clear that it took lots of power to activate the giant guns hanging from the arms. A giant metal ball was behind the guns, attaching the back of them to the rotating sphere, so that the guns could rotate at will._

 _Two metal giant circles were on each side of the aircrafts, and bright blue lights could be seen on the inside of the circles. The unidentified object was far more advanced than anything the women had ever seen, it was silent and did not make a sound, they could have been there for a long time and no one would have known._

 _A scratchy audio play of a robot's voice spoke, catching the women off guard._

" _Identify yourself, you have thirty seconds to comply, or we will use deadly force."_

 _The women blinked, before scratching her head in confusion, clearly not feeling threatened of fearful. Aster her Pokémon companion growled at the aircrafts angrily, but her master seemed content and chill._

" _Well hiya, what's up with your rude welcome?" The women smiled, waving at the aircrafts, "my name is Zinnia, nothing more, nothing less, just your average tourist, exploring the lands_ _ya_ _know?"_

 _The aircrafts rumbled, before their guns rotated locking onto the women named Zinnia and the lights around the muzzle started to glow bright blue._

" _O-Oh, alright, I mean I can keep talking about myself, but I guess you all are looking for a different answer?"_

 _Zinnia still didn't seem bothered that her life was about to be blasted away._

" _This is just such a_ _niiiiiiice_ _city, I would have just assumed you Team Rocket members would be pretty chill too, guess not."_

 _The aircrafts did not reply, as blue light started to gather in front of the guns. Zinnia sighed before taking out another small device from her right pocket, the device was small enough to fit in her palm. It had a gray button on the front, and a small rectangular body, and one single antenna._

 _Zinnia pressed the button, and a shockwave of yellow light burst from it. The aircrafts immediately shut down, the lights from the guns and rockets holding it up vanished. The first one crashed into the one on its left, and the one on the right dropped from the sky._

 _When they hit the ground, they erupted in flames, causing the entire city to rumble and shake. Pieces of metal flew from the aircrafts when it exploded, causing another massive rumble that caused a few little shops to collapse. Zinnia yawned, before walking over to the broken bullet proof glass, and peaking out of the hole._

" _Yeah, the locals might have some trouble getting their lights on for a few days, and the city might smell like burning metal too."_

 _Aster made a disapproving sound, before bouncing over to the warp panel that was mysteriously fixed._

" _Ah, I know Aster, we don't have time for more sightseeing." Zinnia said, taking her hand and removing a regular red and white pokéball from her waist. Zinnia let her thumb run over the smooth surface, before gently tossing it out the window._

 _A bright light appeared flashing on Zinnia's face, before she turned to Aster and smiled._

" _Let's go hunt us a knight."_

 _~Later~_

Rayquaza gently landed on the swaying long grass in a clearing in a dark forest. Tall willow trees danced in the breeze as soft moonlight spilled a silvery light upon the ground. The night was in its last stage, and morning would be present soon, the mission had taken all night, and Lydia struggled to keep her eyes open.

Lydia was like a zombie, her emotions were drained, and she was just a husk of a living being. Lydia mumbled to herself, rubbing her face with her armored hand, and yawning tiredly.

Rayquaza seemed exhausted as well, but he managed to stay full of energy for his master. Lydia's armor clanked together, as she made her way to a crackling fire and silently looked over at her companions.

They seemed to be fast asleep, their features were covered by a heavy sleeping bag, filled with fluffy fur.

Lydia's armor started to liquify, its hardened features became soft as it crept away from her clothing and skin. It grew smaller and smaller, retreating from her body and gathering on her right arm. The liquid started to take form of a circular object, wrapping around Lydia's wrist, before hardening.

It seemed to be a bracelet, made from a metal material, a little dragon head that resembled that of the helm Lydia wore stuck out on the top of the bracelet. The bracelet was two inches thick, silver, and pretty bland.

Lydia's clothes were revealed, she wore black, gray and white camo tight leggings. A gray long shirt covered her butt, and attached to the shirt were white long sleeves that went to her wrist. She had tall silver and black boots that the leggings sank into easily, she looked like a normal thirteen-year-old girl.

The bracelet was over Lydia's sleeves, it looked a little odd, but she didn't seem to mind.

Lydia quietly made her way over to a small pond a few feet away from her camp. The teenager then dipped her burnt and blistered fingers into the cool water, she clenched her teeth as the water ran over her skin. Lydia released a shaky breath, she needed to calm the rash and blisters, so they wouldn't be too obvious.

The chainmail had kept the energy from eating away at Lydia's fingers, but unfortunately it still leaked through and irritated her skin.

A twig snapped in the distance, Lydia lifted her hands from the water and listened carefully. The teenager was ready for combat, she could tell she wasn't alone in the forest.

Something stepped out into the moonlight, Lydia was ready to attack, but the creature wasn't very menacing or dangerous looking.

It had a humanoid figure, and it was covered in short, soft, cherry blossom pink fur. It had cute little paws, with a big black metacarpal pad, and four littler digital pads on the inside of its paw. Its arms were shaped like those of a human, connecting to its shoulder blades that were also covered with its soft short fur. Its collarbone line could be seen, along with the start of its tail that took up most of its stomach. Its tail was white, and it went in-between the creature's legs and created an upright "S" behind it.

On the tip of its tail it had smooth fluffy pink and white feathers, along with sleek white short fur covering its entire tail. The creature's head had spiky fur sticking out on its right jawline, and furry pointy ears that stuck up from the top of its head. Its ears were the same color as its face and body, but the ears had a thin layer of visible long fur outlining them.

The creature had what seemed to be a feline's nose, and a short snout that stuck out a little. It had bright jade colored eyes, that seemed to glow in the darkness. Its two legs were on both sides of its tail, nothing abnormal about them, expect its feet were big paws.

"Oh, my bad, did I scare you Zala?" The creature said, its voice was soft and friendly.

The girl newly named as Zala, rolled her eyes. This creature was one of her companions, he looked girly, and didn't fight well, but he was loyal and a good friend of hers.

"Trust me Lupe, I don't think you would ever scare anyone."

Lupe seemed a little offended, as he crossed his arms and gave Zala and angry look. Lupe's ears twitched, and he didn't look too threatening even when he tried to give a scary look.

"I'll have you know, I happen to be a Shi Pokémon with my own talents and I am a very powerful force to be messed with!"

Lupe smiled, thinking he was really something special, his tail twitched as he waited for Zala's reply.

"Hush Lupe, I am not going to take you seriously when I know you are a fairy."

A deep shade of red colored Lupe's cheeks, as he puffed his cheeks out in frustration and embarrassment.

"Fairy AND steel, I am a duel type, and remember fairies beat dragons fair and square!" Lupe threw his head to the side in an attempt to be dramatic, only making Zala scoff at his attitude.

"Alright then Lupe, Rayquaza is back at camp, wake him up and show us what you can do, Mr. Fairy."

Lupe's eyes bugged, as he quickly tried to change the subject.

"N-Now, we know I am still working on battling, but we are getting off topic, where were you all night?"

Zala hid her hands behind her back, suddenly putting up defensive barriers and challenging her companion with a stare of death.

"Where I go is of none of your concern," Zala said in a warning tone.

Lupe's ears flattened in concern, her voice had changed from a teasing tone to a dark and twisted version. Zala never really opened up to anyone, Lupe had always tried to pry open her barricaded heart, but she always shut back up every time a little light went though.

Lupe's eyes were full of sadness he felt the pain and humiliation that Zala was feeling. His senses were connected to Zala, whatever she felt when she was near him, he did too. His paws ached, along with his heart, he wanted to cry, the weight of a thousand worlds seemed to rest on his shoulders.

"Stop sharing my emotions, they aren't yours to bare." Zala said.

Lupe carefully and gently approached Zala, as she rested on a smooth stone lining the pond. Zala was silent as Lupe sat next to her, the feathers on his tail dipping into the water behind him.

"You could have died." Lupe quivered. "I don't need to mentally know where you went, when your emotions speak for you."

Zala knew she couldn't hide anything from Lupe, he wouldn't ever tell a soul what kinds of things he uncovers with people and Pokémon. Even though Zala knew these things, she wouldn't dare explain the weakness she always felt. It didn't matter how much training and preparation she did, she still felt like it wasn't enough, and it wasn't.

"I wasn't strong enough Lupe, two years of merciless training. I had everything I needed to take down Giovanni, I could have sworn I was ready."

Lupe outstretched his paw, gently touching Zala's shoulder, the teenager flinched a little, not ready for physical contact. Lupe nudged Zala carefully, enough to bring her attention to the rising sun in the East. The two sat quietly sharing the moment, the two realized that the sun was beautiful, and it would wash away all the darkness in the world, all expect the dark that Zala carried.

"The sun always brings a new perspective, it doesn't matter what happened yesterday, it matters what you want to do with today." Lupe said, when he saw that Zala wasn't listening he inched closer. "You didn't lose, if you lost this battle you wouldn't have returned."

Zala was silent as she let the warm morning-light wash over her aching muscles.

"You-know-who is going to be furious when he finds out about my little 'midnight adventure,' so let's agree to never speak of it in front of him."

Lupe flinched thinking of the tyrant that they both knew so well. He would not be too kind to Zala, if he were to learn of her disobedience.

"Speaking of him, shouldn't we get back to camp before he awakens?" Lupe said, Zala's eyes bulged when she remembered her master was an 'early bird.'

The two quickly scrambled back to camp, their hearts full of fear as they saw their campfire slowly dying and a black creature looking towards the morning sun. His hands were behind his back, in a 'parade rest' position, his long red tail flowed behind him as his body was still.

Zala tripped over a rock, she cried out in surprise as she grabbed Lupe's arm to balance herself. Lupe was knocked off balance, and the two went tumbling to the ground, getting a mouth full of grass and dirt.

The creature's head twitched when he heard Zala complaining about Lupe's horrible balance.

"Wow, you seriously can't stand on your own hind paws!"

Lupe's voice cracked as he shouted a reply back to Zala.

"Me? You are the one who tripped and pulled me down with your heavy-"

Lupe was cut off as a powerful psychic energy ripped him off the ground and placed him upright. Zala was assembled the same way as Lupe, to where they were both standing perfectly straight.

"I expect you two to assemble silently and orderly every morning, my way hasn't changed, yet you two still don't seem to understand."

The creature that had just recently spoken turned around to reveal itself, its voice was deep and masculine identifying the creature as male. The male creature's voice was rough and commanding, but not in a terrifying way, just a very structured and tough way.

The male had deep purple eyes, they were emotionless and hidden, on his right eye there was a scar running down his right eyebrow frame, down to the top of his cheek bone.

This was indeed the Shi Pokémon that had saved Zala from Team Rocket two years ago, the features were unmistakable.

"Come on Shadow, I think Lupe and I deserve a little rest and relaxation, we have been training for years, I don't think there is anything else I can learn." Zala said, only to see the Shi Pokémon named Shadow lower his head and darken his gaze.

"No there are plenty of things you still need to learn, one being patience, and another being restraint. Like, showing some restraint in hunting down Team Rocket when I specifically told you that you were NOT Ready."

Lupe whistled awkwardly, as Zala glared at her dragon companion, thinking that Rayquaza had filled Shadow in on the details of their little trip.

The dragon was sound asleep, his giant body resting on the ground. The legendary Pokémon was too big to be sleeping outside of his Pokéball, but the powerful deity seemed to be having a good dream, as his head rolled against the grass making permanent marks in the ground.

"I don't think it was Rayquaza," Lupe said.

Zala glared at her Shi companion, she seems to have figured out the obvious way Shadow had received his information.

"You read his mind, didn't you?!"

Shadow crossed his arms, as the two challenged each other through fierce gazes.

"I am a psychic Pokémon, reading minds is kind-of what I do." Shadow replied, making Zala's face flush with anger. Zala knew Shadow could read minds whenever he wanted, he invaded her privacy daily, and Lupe's privacy, and pretty much anyone or anything that he meets.

"Okay, that is rude, and you need to stop doing that, people and Pokémon have very private things they think about!" Zala said.

"Yeah!" Lupe added, when Shadow shifted his gaze over to Lupe, his enthusiasm died. Shadow stared at Lupe, as the little cherry blossom colored Pokémon's eyes darted in all different directions.

"Perhaps Lupe's imaginative brain shouldn't be exposed, I shall refrain from sneaking a peek in the near future." Shadow said calmly.

Lupe's face started growing red, as Zala glanced at him, curious as to what Shadow had seen, and why even he wouldn't be glancing through his thoughts anytime soon.

"I-I have no idea what he went through," Lupe said nervously. Lupe started searching his own brain, wondering what embarrassing thing Shadow had uncovered, and by Arceus, he had a lot of them.

Shadow quickly turned to Zala, and as the two locked eyes, Shadow could almost sense a presence of evil and disharmony. Shadow knew that Zala was headed down a dark path, her anger for the two that ruined her life blinded her from making the right choices.

Shadow wouldn't say she was exactly 'evil,' but she definitely wasn't doing anything for the greater good either. A strange aura surrounded Zala, one that seemed to have grown stronger from yesterday, probably because she talked with her arch enemy Giovanni.

The aura was visible to Lupe and Shadow, Lupe could sense emotions, and Shadow could read minds, but they both could sense and see aura.

Lupe had seen Zala's aura change, when he first met her, her aura was gray and since he was a fairy he could understand its meaning through her strong feelings. Lupe had concluded that she felt depressed, scared, and skeptical of her surroundings. That was understandable, her heart was full of hurt and questions that no one could answer.

The more Lupe traveled with Zala, the darker her colors grew, changing from a vulnerable gray color, to that of the blood she wanted to spill.

Shadow could not read emotions; therefore, the aura was meaningless. He had seen the colors change as well, but his knowledge of it was empty. He asked Lupe about the recent color change with Zala, and Lupe seemed to be quite distraught about it as well.

Lupe had explained that Shadow knew what color it was, because he could see it, but the meaning of it was what troubled Lupe. Shadow had seen a dark red aura surrounding Zala, meaning she was bloodthirsty and vengeful.

Shadow had trained Zala for self-defense, but Zala started to ask for more 'effective' training. Shadow had agreed that she was ready for the next level, and that is where he had made a mistake.

Now that Shadow looked at Zala, it was not the same girl he had met two years ago. That girl was soft, teachable, and in desperate need of someone to help and nurture her.

The girl that stood in front of him now was full of hate, Shadow did not need to read her mind to know that she only went against his wishes for one reason:

To kill Giovanni.

It all made sense to him now, her sudden interest in moves that would take down several people at once. Her dark aura, and the way she shut off all communication with her companions, leaving them to wonder what they did wrong.

Shadow had created a human death machine, one that was a danger to everyone around her. Her ignorance had almost cost her life, if she didn't have her companion with her, Giovanni would be creating even more abominations.

Shadow would never say Zala was too far-gone, but she needed help, the hate was consuming her.

"Zala," Shadow said gently, watching as Zala crossed her arms and looked over to the ground.

Her aura was overwhelming now, ever sense she returned from her mission. It spilled from her chest, touching the ground below and illuminating her body shape. She was murderous, and what scared Shadow, was that it was the same color aura that Giovanni had.

Shadow took a deep breath, his next actions needed to be swift and smart. Even though the Shi Pokémon was created to be a soldier of war, he believed that taking a life was wrong, a thought that he developed himself.

The thoughts in his brain were to attack, kill, and destroy but when he broke free, he was able to clear his head and create his own thoughts.

If Zala were to kill Giovanni, that hole in her soul for revenge would never be filled, even though the illusion of Giovanni dying told her that was how to fill it. After that, it would be finding her parents for abandoning her, and then finding the one who betrayed her the most.

Her bloodlust would never stop, it would consume her and pull her into a void of darkness where she would never emerge.

Zala thought she could never be happy until those who have wronged her were put into the ground, and Shadow knew he needed to show her a different way.

"Zala, we are going to take a trip, get your things." Shadow said.

The black Pokémon couldn't stop Zala from feeling the way she did, but perhaps if he gave her some feeling of justice, she would understand one can have justice without murder.

Zala snorted, what was Shadow going to do? Perhaps he was going to give her another lecture about how she was a disobedient apprentice and teach her a lesson by making her stand on a mountaintop without any food or water for a day, so she could fast and mediate.

Shadow walked over to the snoring dragon, the poor thing was exhausted from being up all night. Shadow patted the dragon's smooth green body, Rayquaza snorted before his yellow eyes popped open.

"Rwarrg?" Rayquaza protested, his eyes lulling, as he rolled onto his back, scratching his chest with his short arms.

"Rayquaza is a baby he needs his rest, you shouldn't make him fly when he has had no sleep." Zala said, Shadow gave Zala an annoyed look as Rayquaza blew air from his nose, blowing a few meters of grass back.

"Isn't that funny, if someone were not out all night, Rayquaza would have been rested." Shadow shot back at Zala, making the teenager roll her eyes at her master.

"Come on big baby, we need you to take us somewhere." Shadow said, patting the dragon once again. Rayquaza dramatically released a weak ember onto the grass, before looking back at Shadow.

"Rwaraaa!"

"No you aren't Rayquaza, yesterday you were healthy as a Mudsdale!" Lupe said, the dragon lifted his head, before exaggerating once more that he felt sick. Rayquaza spat out a nasally roar, causing several Pidgey to flee from nearby trees, as the roar carried on through an echo for a good few minutes.

Zala crossed her arms, watching her dragon act like a toddler. Even though he was a toddler, she still expected more from her companion.

The four sat there, as Rayquaza heaved on the grass, when the dragon realized his friends were not buying the act, he rolled his eyes and picked himself up. Rayquaza yawned, revealing his sharp fangs, before stretching out his long serpentine-body.

"Rawg Rhyrr Raaaa!" Rayquaza cursed, causing Shadow to wrinkle his nose and Lupe to cover his mouth.

"I don't know what you said Rayquaza, I don't speak dragon." Zala said, as the dragon lowered his head allowing Zala to climb onto his back. Zala grabbed ahold of his lower horn, before climbing towards his neck and sliding into place.

Shadow sat in front of Zala, making the teenager grunt in discomfort when his tail slapped her in the face. Rayquaza started to lift into the air, much to Lupe's horror, as the gentle Pokémon ran in front of Rayquaza trying to catch his attention.

"Hey, don't leave me!" Lupe yelled, Rayquaza gave a small grin, before snatching Lupe up in his claws.

Rayquaza looked towards the sky, before levitating his body up to the clouds. The dragon was easy to steer, you could give him commands, or gently press your foot against his left or right side.

Zala usually just told Rayquaza what to do, but when she had to go into stealth mode, she had to use different commands.

When telling Rayquaza to veer right, she would lightly squeeze her thighs together allowing her right foot to dig a little into his side. The dragon was sensitive, and could feel the pressure, making him obey and turn right until the pressure was lifted. The same went for the left side, the commands were the same both ways.

When commanding the dragon to dip lower towards the ground, she would lightly press both of her palms in front of her on the tip of his spine. Rayquaza would then descend lower and lower until the pressure stopped. If he was extremely low to the ground, he would land and then the pressure would cease.

When asking the dragon to ascend, Zala would stroke the dragon's neck repeatedly until the dragon was at the height she wanted.

Rayquaza took ages to learn the commands, but now he could easily recognize what his master wanted. When Shadow was in control, the dragon couldn't help but feel a little nervous and uncomfortable, but he still obeyed and did as he was told.

Rayquaza could feel Shadow stroking his neck, slowly and gently. The dragon lifted his head and started to go up, until the stroking stopped. When asked to go forward, both feet would gently kick Rayquaza's sides and he would go forward.

When Shadow did just that, the dragon went forward, when Zala wanted the dragon to go faster she would lightly but rapidly kick Rayquaza's sides. Her companion would then pick up speed until the kicks stopped, Rayquaza was huge and well armored, so the kicks did not irritate or bother him in any way.

Shadow lightly kicked both his feet into Rayquaza, and the dragon obeyed picking up speed. Rayquaza gripped Lupe tightly, making sure he was not dropped, as the dragon cut through the air with ease.

Zala sighed, as Shadow commanded her dragon to go to an unknown destination. Shadow always had a good sense of direction, when they traveled at night, he would easily recognize their direction by the structure of stars. Zala didn't know if he was programmed with that in his system, or if he just picked up a thing or two over time.

Shadow pressed his hands on the tip of Rayquaza's spine, the dragon felt the pressure, and immediately started to sink towards a thick forest. Rayquaza glided over the trees, scanning for a place to land. Rayquaza was a very fast Pokémon and in minutes they were already where Shadow wanted them to be. Rayquaza could travel one third of the speed of light during his maximum potential, Zala hasn't reached the level where she could unlock that power just yet though.

Rayquaza touched his stomach on the grass below him, gently lowering his head so his companions could slide off his neck.

The dragon dropped Lupe straight on his back, making the poor Pokémon bruise his tailbone.

"What the heck Rayquaza, I thought we were friends!" Lupe yelled, massaging his lower back.

Shadow landed on the grass along with Zala, the Shi Pokémon mapped their destination, as Zala patted her dragon.

"Take a nice long rest buddy," Zala said.

Rayquaza grinned, as Zala returned the dragon into his pokéball, making the clearing seem much more spacious.

"We are not too far from Cerulean City." Shadow said, as his companions shrugged. Zala and Lupe had no idea why Shadow had taken them to Cerulean City, but Shadow had everything already figured out.

Shadow was going to give Zala a feeling of security, in hopes to snuff out the darkness in her soul. He was blind then, he never would have guessed that her past would eat away her purity, that was his fault.

Shadow was going to do what he trained her for, they were going to take down Team Rocket humanely.

"Want to explain what we are doing here?" Zala said gruffly, clearly not interested in doing some sightseeing.

Shadow didn't answer, as Lupe fiddled with the fur on his right cheek. Lupe knew he would have to go into a city, and he hated anything that had to do with social interaction. Lupe didn't know how to interact with humans, Zala was a different story, she never really talked to him much.

Shadow was a Shi Pokémon, and he didn't really talk much either, so Lupe was fine hanging around him as well.

Lupe could never go into cities, whenever someone talked to him, he had a severe anxiety attack and could never say what he was thinking.

Shadow's body started to change, morphing into something more casual and teenage-like. Shadow had the ability to cast an illusion of himself, but he could only do one illusion, and it could only be casted on him.

Shadow's claws slid into fingers, and his horns sunk back into his head. His black skin started to glow until it melted into a lighter and more normal color. Shadow's purple eyes transformed into a brighter color, that looked more relaxed and less intimidating.

Shadow stood in front of his companions, now completely human, looking like an average nineteen-year-old. Shadow had golden blond hair, styled in a spiky controlled mess kind of way. His bangs were curved along the left side of his face, touching a little bit past the bottom of his eye.

His eyes were sea-blue, they were friendly and inviting, unlike his normal look. Shadow's body was muscular and built, his tight gray muscle shirt exposed his well carved form. A silver chain necklace hung from his neck, along with black jeans covering his legs. A single silver chain went from his front pocket over to his back, and his feet were covered in white and gray tennis shoes.

Lupe swallowed, before activating his secret ability. Lupe was only useful for his ability to create life-like illusions, unlike Shadow, Lupe could produce a large amount of illusions at one time. Lupe's illusions consisted of anything he could think up, he could make someone look different, or create a separate illusion all together.

Lupe's feathers on his tail started to shrink, as his body got smaller and skinnier. Lupe's green eyes remained the same, but his entire body became more realistic and human-like.

Lupe now stood in front of his friends in an entirely different form, his body was muscular, but hidden by a roomy white hoodie covering his chest. His hoodie was up, framing his soft pale face, and pushing his black hair farther down his right side.

Lupe's whole right side of his face was covered by a thick gathering of his hair, touching all the way to the bottom of his jaw. On the left side of his face, his hair was covering his ear and the side of his face, giving him a very shy emo-look.

Lupe squirmed uncomfortably, before pulling up his gray jeans. Lupe looked casual as well, looking younger than Shadow, but older than Zala.

Lupe looked about sixteen, three years older than Zala, even though he acted younger.

"Alright, now that we look like people, let's go." Shadow said, the two teenagers looked at each other, before following the blond male.

Once the trio reached the city, Lupe immediately started to freak out. The buildings were huge, they towered over the hundreds of people walking in the streets and on the sidewalks.

Several fountains squirted water in an orderly conduct, as wild bird Pokémon settled in small parks pecking at leftover sandwich bits.

The teenagers blended into the crowd quite easily, walking among the people as if they were never strangers. Shadow led the pack, as Zala struggled to breathe in the compacted city.

Someone slammed into Zala, the teenager was pushed to the side, making her anger explode.

"Hey idiot, next time you do that, I will knock your teeth out!" Zala challenged.

The stranger turned around, revealing her face. She had a hard look, and bright blue eyes that screamed danger. Her hair was long, on the left side of her head she had a series of spiky hair sticking out. Her orange hair fell over her forehead, in a jagged but stylish manner.

The stranger threw her hands up, and gave a nasty look, before walking backwards a little. The female whipped back around, and disappeared into the crowd without a word.

"Rude little-" Zala was cut off as Lupe grabbed her hand, taking her deeper into the crowd and away from where she made a scene.

Zala watched as Shadow and Lupe ducked into an alley, covering Zala's mouth as Shadow looked into the crowd.

"Murmph!" Zala growled, from under Lupe's hand. Lupe put his finger to his lips, as Shadow looked for something.

Shadow had spotted a group of people scouring the city, their auras were black as night, and Lupe had warned Shadow that those colors were usually associated with bad people.

Black was hostile and secretive, and only one organization came to mind when Shadow tried to pinpoint who those people truly were.

Zala ripped Lupe's hand off of her mouth, and opened her mouth to demand an answer from them, but was cut off by Shadow.

"I saw something that we needed to hide from, and I think its obvious why they are here." Shadow said.

Zala had a clue as to what he was talking about, but he was just so shady about everything she wasn't one hundred percent certain.

"Come on guys, let's hide out here for a while." Lupe whispered, Shadow kept watching the black aura people lurking in the crowd. One of them took out a small device, and turned it on, before locking eyes with Shadow.

The disguised Shi Pokémon turned from the man, ducking behind a dumpster with Lupe. Over Shadow's head was a worn out blinking sign that read: "City Block Tavern."

Zala didn't hesitate to open the door, revealing a comforting bar, with chestnut wooden floors. Plush booths were in all corners of the tavern, but some tables were angled towards a few TVs with wooden stool chairs. Small chandeliers hung from the ceiling, but didn't really change the lighting in the tavern.

The place was quiet, a few men chatted in the booths, but other than that it was pretty empty. A bartender cleaned a few glasses, while watching something on the TV hanging from the ceiling in front of him.

Shadow wanted some information, and getting info at a bar was a pretty well-known tactic. The disguised Pokémon silently approached the bartender, and the man broke his concentration from the TV to look at Shadow.

"Look kid, I don't know if your friend put you up to this, but I don't sell to anyone underage." He said.

The bartender was a little overweight, he wore a gray suit with a white-cuffed shirt under it. A light golden tie could be seen, along with dark gray pants, his eyes were dark-brown, and questioning. His arms were exposed, they were very hairy, but his beard was cut and shaved nicely.

"I am not here for a drink, I am here for information." Shadow said, sliding a few dollars in cash as a friendly "encouragement."

The bartender seemed intrigued, as he silently took the money and stuffed it into his pocket. The man casually began cleaning his glasses again, as he raised an eyebrow at Shadow.

"What is it you want to know? Are you in trouble with the law?" The man said, Shadow shook his head making the bartender relax a little.

"When did Team Rocket start poking their noses around town?" Shadow asked, the bartender hummed before setting down his glass.

"I would say they have been here for years, but just recently they have been appearing more than usual."

Shadow looked over to Zala, she seemed to be interested in a match between a Gengar and an Incineroar. Zala seemed mesmerized by the TV, as she leaned against the back of a booth, made of smooth wood.

"Have any idea why they might have crawled out of shadows all of the sudden?" Shadow asked.

The bartender ignored him, looking at him with yearning eyes. Shadow sighed before sliding over more money to him, the bartender seemed satisfied before feeding Shadow more information.

"Word on the street says Team Rocket had a troubling encounter, and now they are simply trying to find the one that caused it. Rumor has it, that their visitor wasn't even human, because not one person would be crazy enough to go into their base without having a death wish."

Zala snorted, Shadow picked up on her mumbling, and realized she was eavesdropping.

"Well there is one person that has gone into a Team Rocket base and had come out alive." The bartender cleared his throat, waiting.

Shadow growled, before digging through his pocket and slapping more cash into the bartender's greedy hands.

"You've pretty much run me dry of information, but I can point you to a girl who knows about Team Rocket. Like I said, there has been only one person that has recently gone into Team Rocket's headquarters and has made it out alive. You can find her sitting at one of those wooden tables by the TV."

Shadow turned to see a lonesome girl, her eyes had bags under them, and dried mascara dyed the entire bottom of her eyes black. It was clear that the girl had been crying, and she seemed to be staring endlessly at a TV hanging above her.

She wore a white fuzzy wool sweater, her black tank-top was exposed, but her arms and shoulders were covered by her sweater. Her black tank-top was cut off when it reached her stomach, revealing her abdomen. She had short jean-shorts, that were overtop of black almost see-through tights that were tucked into high black boots with gray shoe laces.

The girl had a black floral choker around her neck, and long darker blue hair fell down her back. She had two gold hair clips that held up her hair in the front, and a black beanie hat on her head, with a pink kiss-mark in the middle of it.

Her cream skin-tone matched her dark-blue eyes, but both of her features looked worn and defeated.

The girl lifted her arms pouring a thick red substance into a shot glass, before lifting it up and swallowing it whole.

Zala wrinkled her nose, she could smell the girl's breath from where she was standing. The girl was focused on the TV, watching what seemed to be a Pokémon contest. Beautifully dressed and groomed Pokémon followed their master's orders as they lit up the stage in sparkles and flames.

The girl flinched, before pouring herself another shot of something that was clearly not alcohol.

Shadow tossed his head over towards the girl's direction, indicating that he wanted Lupe and Zala to approach her. Zala rolled her eyes before walking towards the female, with Lupe trailing behind her cautiously.

A strong cherry-scented aroma hit Zala as she pulled out a chair and sat in front of the female. The girl paid her no mind, as she kept mumbling to herself while the contest continued on the screen.

"I-Is that cough syrup?" Zala asked, the girl snapped her attention to Zala as she realized she was not alone anymore.

"Y-Yeah, how else was I supposed to get my fix, when Jim over there wont give me the strong stuff!" The girl yelled, pointing a finger to the bartender who seemed quite used to her loud outbursts.

"My name is Marty, and you know I can't sell to underage kids." The bartender replied, making the girl pour herself another shot of cough syrup.

She threw her head back and gulped down the syrup, before slamming down the glass and yelling once again.

"Yeah, well, whatever TOM!"

The girl stared at the TV again, her entire body trembling, as her lip quivered.

"So, since you are not old enough to drink, you substitute with cough syrup?" Zala asked, as the girl glared at her while her hand shook as she reached for the bottle.

"Drink enough of it, and you'll forget you're a failure." She said, as she tried to pour herself another serving. Her vision must have been blurry, because she was pouring the thick substance on the table in front of her, and clearly not aware.

Zala gently pushed her finger into the girl's arm, moving her arm towards the shot glass that she held in her other hand. The liquid started gathering in the glass, and it no longer spilled onto the table.

"I usually won't let anyone underage into the bar, but after she snuck in for the hundredth time, I just got tired of chasing the kids away." The bartender whispered to Shadow.

The girl was obviously upset about something, her habit was only because of something she wanted to forget, she said so herself.

The girl ran her fingers through her hair, before leaning on her elbow and staring at the TV once again.

"So…Do you mind giving us some information will really need-"

Zala was cut off, as the girl started to sniff, and fresh tears started to flow down her cheeks. Her mascara started to run again, and black tears dripped onto the table as her make-up started to run.

Soon enough the girl was bawling, slamming her fist on the table and causing quite a scene, making Zala's cheeks run hot with embarrassment. Suddenly the crying stopped, and the girl looked up at Zala with pleading and desperate eyes.

"Tell me that I am beautiful," the girl said. Zala opened her mouth to say something, but was afraid that if she said anything she would upset the cherry-cough-syrup drinker further.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she yelled at no one in particular, "I knew it, I am a failure at life, I deserve to be out-casted from society and I deserve to be separated from my mother's love."

Zala puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment, as the girl balled her eyes out for a good fifteen minutes. The men in the bar ignored her, apparently this was a daily problem for them, and they just learned to talk over her.

Between sobs and wails Zala could hear a few sentences like: "I am making such a scene," and "my makeup just went into my eye and it hurts!"

When the wails died down to small sniffles, the girl recovered from her 'moment' as she looked up at Zala.

"I-I am sorry about that," she said wiping her eyes with the corner of her sleeves, turning her white sweater a little black. The girl was shaking and still sniffing, but she seemed to be a little more stable.

"Do you uh, want to talk about it?" Zala asked, feeling quite out of her element. She wasn't a robot, Zala had feelings, and she felt bad for the girl who was pretty much the same age as Zala herself.

The girl nodded her head before getting up out of her seat, and sitting next to Zala. The sudden move made Zala very uncomfortable, as the girl started to sniffle again, Lupe covered his ears as she started to cry again, wailing and sobbing to where some people left the bar.

Then the girl invaded Zala's personal space, by grabbing her shirt and throwing her head into her chest. Zala was immobilized, she felt so uncomfortable and weirded out, but the girl's grip was so tight and sturdy, Zala was not sure she could pry her off.

Shadow choked back a laugh, as Zala struggled to calm the girl down. She sobbed, and yelled, and threatened some men in the back to stop looking at her, and then sank her face into Zala's chest again.

Suddenly the girl lifted her head, and grabbed Zala's face bringing her chin down to where they could lock eyes.

"D-Don't tell anyone this, but my name is Dawn, ni-nice to meet you." The girl named Dawn whispered, putting her finger to her lips before sobbing once again.

The three teenagers locked eyes with each other, praying that this lunatic wasn't the one they were supposed to get their answers from.


	3. Chapter 3

_Zinnia tapped her heel against the side of a fountain, unlike most parks, this one was abandoned and covered with weeds and vines. Zinnia sat below a statue, with unkempt murky water gathered in the center of the mossy fountain. Her companion Aster seemed quite content, but still cautious even though they seemed alone._

 _A light drizzle sprinkled along the marble garden that Zinnia resigned in, as the girl carefully caressed a flower that to grew in a flower pot. The flower struggled among the weeds, but its vibrant colors seemed to brighten the mood. The entire garden was gloomy, but here was this flower that grew in the dry soil._

 _Zinnia's gaze was transfixed on this flower, her thoughts were hazy yet she needed to grasp what her brain was clasping._

" _Among all the weeds, here you are." Zinnia whispered, taking her hand and stroking the flower with that back of her palm._

 _Zinnia had traveled far and wide for this moment, but still the peaceful vibe of the garden did not ease her anxiety. She was here to meet… a legend, so to say._

 _Zala had met this… person.. a while back, they had quite a history. They did not leave on a good note, but that was not Zinnia's concern._

 _Suddenly Zinnia could sense a presence, and she lifted her chin to gaze into the bright red eyes of an individual before her. His face was very pale, and he seemed nervous as he sat next to Zinnia silently._

" _Mum?" Aster said, as she started hopping from Zinnia's right side and plopping herself on the boy's lap. He seemed quite surprised by this movement, while the Pokémon nuzzled her way into his stomach._

 _Zinnia and the boy were silent for a while, before she decided to break the silence._

" _Look, I don't know the full story of why you and Zala aren't communicating anymore and I don't care. Frankly what happened is between you two, but I need your knowledge if I am to find someone who does not want to be found."_

 _The boy glanced to the side, "I know."_

 _Zinnia squinted, "but I know why you agreed to help, you want to talk to her. I can arrange for that to happen, and have her paralyzed so she has to listen, but be warned she may never believe you."_

 _It seemed like a little light appeared in the depressed boy's eyes, but only for a moment. "I know what really happened, yet I know she will never let me tell my side of the story. I am a coward, I can't face her, not yet."_

 _Zinnia shrugged, "I mean whatever, do what you want, but I still need your help regardless."_

 _Zinnia brought out an envelope from under her cloak, before handing it to her ally. He took it, opening it gently to reveal the pictures and scribbled notes inside._

 _Zinnia spread the pictures with her fingers, "I am the sworn protector of this world, a Draconid is promised to look over the lands and rise up when there is a threat. Like I told you when we first met, after Zala received Rayquaza I had a vision given to me by Dialga."_

 _The boy blinked as he looked over the pictures, "but why would Dialga give you a vision?"_

 _Zinnia tapped the notes, "Dialga is the watcher of the past and future. He told me that Zala is needed for the future to even be possible. Team Rocket is making a weapon, one that will be created by Zala herself. Dialga told me, something deep inside Zala is stirring, something that will bring the end of all times. He told me, I have to bring three girls together as they are the ones in a prophecy told long ago."_

" _Three girls? What did Dialga say they could do?"_

 _Zinnia dug into her memory before pulling out a sheet of paper that had frantic notes written down, "if I remember correctly, after the vision I wrote the exact words down here. Dialga is a bit of a riddle loving God, so hang tight with me. He said, three girls will come forth one of strength, with a past of the weak, one of beauty, with a past of the bleak, and the last being the bearer of wisdom with the past of the deceived. All of which have a past to grieve."_

 _The boy mulled the words over in his head, "why are they so important?"_

 _Zinnia shrugged, "Well Red, they apparently are going to stop Team Rocket from whatever it is they are going to do? I don't know sheesh, I am trying to figure it out just as much as you!"_

 _The boy named Red nodded his head, "one of strength, one of beauty, and one of wisdom? How will we know which girls in the entire world are the right ones?"_

" _Well, it seems as if another has had a vision as well. She figured it out long ago, and I was warned that she would mettle with the prophecy. I do not know her name or her origins, all I know is that she had attempted to separate the girls from ever meeting. If I were to guess, I guarantee she works for Team Rocket, and I know she has her findings documented somewhere."_

 _Red shook his head, "Last time I encountered Team Rocket I-"_

 _Zinnia put her finger to his lips, before stroking his hair. "Quiet Red, chill.. You will not be going against Team Rocket, we all know you get noodle legs when just thinking about what happened between you and Zala. This is a quest I will be doing, you on the other hand, you need to make sure this other girl does not encounter Zala again. She will try and mess with fate, I don't know why she wants the world to fall into chaos, but she must have her reasons."_

" _N-Noodle legs?"_

" _Yeah, you start stuttering and shaking, it's embarrassing to watch. Your past with Zala and Team Rocket is bad, but get over it man, it happened, own it, and make it right. Now to get our plan right, you will not engage with Zala no matter what happens! If something bad happens with her, you reach me with this device and wait for me to handle it. Okay?"_

 _Zinnia snatched the folder and hid it under her cloak before handing Red a device with a smooth red button on the front._

" _B-But what if Zala is in danger?"_

 _Zinnia poked Red in the rose making him cry out in pain, "YOU don't do anything. The last thing I need is your bones and blood all over the floor, and I have to clean you off the walls. Zala will kill you if she sees you, you have to maintain your feelings, and allow me to take care of it!"_

 _Red had a hard time swallowing his urge to tell Zinnia off, but he knew she was right, Zala was not a force to tamper with. Her hatred towards him, would blind her from any reasoning and his life would end in the snap of her fingers._

" _But Zala.. she is just a girl, one that is hurt and suffering, what does she have to do with this prophecy?"_

 _Zinnia shooed Red away from her, before exposing the flower at her side._

" _See this flower?" Zinnia asked, taking Red's hand and forcing him to touch the bright red and orange petals._

 _Red carefully stroked the middle of the flower, before looking back at Zinnia with a concerned and confused look._

" _This is a blood rose, have you heard of the legend of the blood rose?" Zinnia asked, Red shook his head before the Draconid descendent nodded her head and stared at the flower._

" _What does this have to do with my question?"_

 _Zinnia put her finger to her lips, "the legend of the blood rose states, that this rose grows in the most horrible of environments. It is bullied and abused by the weeds, and struggles to gain nutrients from the soil. Every day is an endless battle between the blood rose and the weeds, yet it survives."_

 _Red looked at the rose before listening to the rain, what was Zinnia trying to say?_

" _Do you know how the blood rose survives?"_

 _Red shook his head, "no I do not."_

 _Zinnia smiled, "the blood rose survives by storing its power, growing over time little by little as the weeds steal its nutrients. The blood rose becomes dormant, and once the weeds have become full grown, it releases several roots and sucks out the life out of the weeds. It is said that if you were to pluck one of these-"_

 _Zinnia plucked a petal from the blood rose, and Red jumped at the sudden movement of the Draconid women. Zinnia put her hands in her lap, as they both watched the flower holding their breath, not knowing what would happen._

 _Suddenly a tiny shade of red started to cover the section of where the petal was plucked, and drops of red liquid dribbled onto the soil below the flower._

" _-the blood flower bleeds, they say it's the blood of the weeds that it stole to survive. Do you know why I am telling you this Red?"_

 _Red shook his head once more, as Zinnia sighed._

" _You aren't much of a poet, basically I'm tying Zala and the blood rose together. Like the blood rose, Zala grows in a twisted and evil world, she struggles to survive. She has been abused, used, tricked-" Zinnia stopped when she saw Red flinch, and she softened her tone. "but like the flower, these conditions only train her to get stronger, when it's her time she will rise above the weeds and take them down. One day this garden will be empty of weeds, all because of this flower, and the world clean, all because of Zala."_

 _Red nodded his head, and Zinnia could see the guilt in his eyes._

" _The only reason she is hurt is because of me, her hatred towards the world wouldn't be here if I just never-"_

" _Hey! Listen, Zala is meant for something greater than just some mediocre Pokémon trainer! Yes, you messed up, but destiny formed something unknown yet legendary out of it! If I didn't think Zala was meant for this responsibility Rayquaza wouldn't have a trainer."_

 _Red sighed, his lip quivering but he seemed to swallow it as Zinnia patted his back gently._

" _Zala is in danger, I need you to focus so we can figure out what kind of thing is inside her that allows Team Rocket to keep chasing her on this hunt."_

 _Red nodded his head, "okay just tell me what you need me to do, I care more about Zala then anyone else in the world, so I will do as you ask."_

 _Zinnia took out the folder once again, and pulled out a piece of paper. She glanced at it, before swallowing hard and handing it to Red._

 _Red took it, scanning over it curiously before his face formed into a panicked and shocked expression._

" _T-This is impossible! You think Zala has powerful abilities from an unknown source in her blood?" Red gasped, shaking his head and running his hand through his black hair._

" _The problem is, Team Rocket thinks it's unknown but I figured out her abilities are not from some random source."_

" _They must be from some ancient blood line or something!"_

 _Zinnia shook her head before looking up, "not from ancestors, Zala has the blood… of a God."_

~Elsewhere~

"I cannot believe Shadow forced me to carry this drunk chick all the way up to her hotel room, while laughing his butt off on the way out of the bar!" Zala spat, shifting Dawn's weight on her back. Zala didn't want to be carrying this drooling girl on her back, but she also couldn't leave her in Cerulean City alone.

Cerulean City was quite dangerous at dark, but day time was not any easier. Dawn seemed gentle, and not at all a fighter so Zala couldn't argue with her conscience on this one. Unfortunately while carrying Dawn, Zala had to figure out where she lived and try to haul her all the way there without gaining attention.

"Is Dawn drunk again?"

"The town drunk made a new friend! How sweet!"

The taunting voices of the city folk were anger-some, but Zala was used to doing things that people didn't approve of. Dawn mumbled something in her sleep and sighed, and Zala blew part of her bangs out of her face in frustration. Dawn had fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago, and she loved to wrap her arms around Zala's neck whenever she got the chance.

"AK, Dawn!" Zala wheezed as Dawn's death grip got tighter around her neck. She couldn't take this anymore, doing good deeds sucked and she would never do this again.

"Looks like you got a lot of dead weight-"

The chuckling by the city folk was stopped when Zala yelled, "SHUT UP!"

They shifted awkwardly away from Zala, as her voice silenced all the whispers and judging gazes. She stomped along the sidewalk, snarling at anyone who dared to crack a smile, she was not having it today.

Soon the hotel that Dawn apparently lived in was visible, and Zala balanced Dawn on her back before fishing out her key and entering the lobby. Zala took the elevator, and went up to the fifth floor before gagging at the awful decorations and dirty floors. It did not seem like a very fancy hotel, the chairs were dusty, the chandelier was terribly outdated, and the scents in the hotel were that of mold and old air freshener.

Zala found Dawn's room, and opened the door. When Zala saw the room she dropped Dawn out of shock.

"Oh shoot, sorry Dawn!" Zala said, picking the sleeping girl up from the carpet. She seemed like she didn't even notice the three foot drop, but Zala carefully placed Dawn on the messy bed before taking the entire room in.

Plates of food (probably from room service) were stacked on top of the spare bed, most of them hardly even touched. Clothes were scattered all over the room, and dozens of suit cases were strung around the beds. The room smelled horrible, and was a mess! Zala gagged, before stepping over the mountains of clothes and trash.

What kind of life was this thirteen year old girl living? Obviously she was not having a good time, but Zala couldn't figure out what happened to make her like this. Most kids her age wouldn't have enough money to even afford a hotel room, much less live in one even if it was this trashy.

Zala stepped into the bathroom, looking at all the towels and hygiene materials scattered around. The tiles in the bathroom looked water damaged, and the mold seeped through the ceiling, where a string of water dripped onto the floor.

"Ugh where is health inspector, this room is despicable!" Zala said, leaving the bathroom. Now, Zala was a very messy person, but this room was something else entirely! Soon Zala noticed herself picking up things and disposing of them, throwing just like… the entire room away practically.

Dawn stirred, and Zala stopped to see her eyes flutter open. The girl seemed a little confused, before she picked herself up and faced the doorway. Dawn rubbed her eyes, cursing herself before yawning and scratching her head.

"Your room is disgusting," Zala said.

"AH!" Dawn screamed, whipping around and staring at Zala with wide eyes. Zala didn't seemed fazed, as she squinted and rolled her eyes at Dawn's stupid protective stance.

"Chill out, if I wanted to hurt you I would feed you this ten day old hot pocket." Zala said, kicking the plastic plate over as the hot pocket splattered on the carpet.

"Hey, aren't you that girl I met at the bar?" Dawn asked, lowering her hands and staring at Zala with curious eyes.

"You mean while you were plastered, yeah I remember you. By the way, I carried you all the way here, so you kind of owe me." Zala said, as she sat on the other bed turning around to where she faced Dawn.

"I am really sorry about that, I kind of have an… issue so to say."

Zala snorted, "an issue is an understatement, by the way the people around the city talk about you, it seems this is common behavior."

Dawn rubbed her face, "I was not always this way, things happened and my life just kind of spiraled out of control."

"Welcome to the club, do you need some water?" Zala asked, watching as Dawn bit her lip and nodded sadly.

Zala went to the bathroom, after grabbing a glass from Dawn's nightstand and filling it with cold water. When she returned, Dawn downed the water in two gulps before sighing happily and grunting in frustration.

"Have you ever drank water so fast, that the coldness in the water makes your brain hurt?" Dawn asked, Zala nodded her head while giving a small smile.

"It has happened once or twice," she said while the both of them shared a small chuckle.

They both were silent for a while, as they both wondered what to say. Zala had never really been good at making friends, or really interacting with people. It was pretty awkward, as they both sat there not knowing what to do.

"What's your story Dawn, how did you end up here in Cerulean City? You seem pretty young to be traveling by yourself, and you don't look like a Pokémon trainer."

Dawn shrugged, "eh I haven't had a genuine conversation in a while, might as well tell you since I put you through all this trouble." Dawn took a deep breath, before continuing, "I am Dawn Nightgale, heir to the Nightgale fortune."

Zala's mouth cracked, and she snorted as she broke into a fit of laughter. Dawn crossed her arms and looked down, shifting uncomfortably as Zala tried to suppress her growing laughter.

When Zala finally calmed down she was able to speak in broken speech, "the Nightgale's only daughter died in the tragic fire two years ago, the entire mansion burned down. So the only heir to the richest family on the continent of Sinnoh is scattered in a coffin in the Nightgale graveyard."

Dawn seemed angry, as she glared at Zala, "listen to me, my family used the fire to cover up the scandal they've been hiding for years! They would rather say I died then actually confess what happened to their true daughter!"

Zala laughed again, "so you are telling me, you are the real Dawn.. the ONLY daughter the billionaires of the Nightgale empire had?"

"YES, believe it or not my parents burned down the mansion just to say that I died. They wanted me out of their lives, because they believe my genes are tainted." Dawn pleaded, her jaw clenching as Zala suppressed her laughter to see Dawn shivering with anger.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, it's just really weird to hear that the Nightgale's purposefully burned down the mansion that has been in their family for centuries! I also know that they loved their daughter… well you.. very much, I don't understand why they would want to tell the world that you died."

Dawn curled up into a tight ball, as she hugged her knees and bit her lip hard. She started to sniff and her eyes watered as well, forcing her to wipe her eyes and angrily release a puff of air.

"They are liars, they didn't love me! They told the world lies, everyone around them and everything they did were all full of lies! They have this perfect image around them, loving parents, devoted workers, charity givers, but really they are monsters." Dawn yelled, slapping the glass off of her nightstand and causing it to shatter on the ground.

"I am rather curious to know why they lied, do you mind explaining?" Zala asked, watching as Dawn nodded her head.

"I have wanted to tell someone about the twisted world of the Nightgales, my whole life people have only believed my parents. I have longed since wanted to explain what really happens behind closed doors."

Zala softened her tone before replying, "it really is okay if you do not want to talk about it."

"No, you deserve to hear my story, I have never had anyone go out of their way to make sure I was safe." Dawn said, looking at Zala before darting her eyes to the bedroom floor, "all my life I was a perfect daughter, I did everything I could to make my parents happy. They only had me so I could keep the family business going, and the Nightgale's made their fortune off of Pokémon contests. I had to be the role model for everyone, beautiful, elegant, and kind. My family only wanted the best from their blood, so they broke me doing shows and contests, and practicing over and over until I could get it right."

Dawn stopped to gather herself before continuing.

"If I did one thing wrong, I slept in the basement with the rats, being fed nothing but dry bread and water, and slept on dirty hay. When I made them happy I was rewarded with anything and everything I wanted, but all I longed for was affection! During all my shows, my partner Pokémon Rapidash was raised along with me, and she was my only friend. I loved her with all of my heart, I would sit by her stall, and her flames would warm me."

Zala spoke softly, "it seems like you two were very good friends."

"We were, it was because of our teamwork that I ate all those nights ago." Dawn trailed off, "but.."

A small tear slid from Dawn's eye and dropped on the bed, making Zala feel like she didn't want to hear the rest.

"One day, I was going to her stall, and when I got there her eyes were filled with rage. She burst from her stall, and charged out into the courtyard, screaming and flailing in pain." Dawn stopped, before wiping her eyes, "her behavior was so out of character, and out of instinct I went to calm my best friend. The servants yelled at me to get back, but I ignored them, I loved her, I wanted to help. I brought my hand up to her nose, and she brought her head down to accept my touch, but as soon as I made contact…"

Dawn flinched, and Zala jumped when she saw Dawn's teeth clench from the painful memory.

"Rapidash kicked me… hard and so fast I couldn't register what was happening. I was hospitalized, my left leg shattered and I never recovered." Dawn said, lifting up her leg to reveal the horrible chunk of flesh missing from it. The bone was caved in, and her scar tissue around it was mangled.

"B-But what happened to-"

Dawn hushed Zala, as she brought her fingers to her head in a gun shape, and brought her thumb down to resemble the trigger.

They were both silent, before Dawn continued, "Without my partner, I was depressed. I couldn't heal properly, and I was told that I would never be able to move the way that I used to. My bone would forever be weak, making it hard for me to walk, run… and perform." Dawn lowered her leg, with visible pain, "My parents blamed me, told me I was imperfect now, and they worked me harder than ever, but the pain from my leg was just too much. On the last day of my performances, I was taken to the biggest Pokémon contest in Sinnoh, against the Nightgale's rival the Blight's.

Zala remembered the Blights, equally as rich as the Nightgale's but lived in Kanto, and were very big into winning.

"My parents gave me a substitute Pokémon, which was a Garchomp that they bought for a small fortune hoping that it would bring them better luck. I wasn't used to performing with him, and I tried my hardest, but I failed, and when I tried to work even harder, I irritated my healing leg and it gave out right in the middle of my final moments of performing."

Dawn seemed to be having a hard time, as she choked back sobs. Her throat seemed dry and every time she tried speaking her voice was rasp and cracked.

"My family was disgraced, we lost to the Blights all because of me. The entire world saw me fail, and they were disgusted! My family started to be questioned about their parenting, because they never spoke about my leg and why it was so damaged. They took the coward's way out, and decided to throw me out onto the streets and pretend they never knew me. They lit the mansion on fire, and the public was too traumatized to even question their parenting. They were all saddened to hear that I was burned alive, but my parents blamed it on the Blights, saying they set fire to the mansion, and they sued for every penny they had. Evidence piled up, fake evidence, a fake body, a fake hired posy that admitted to working for the Blights.. they didn't stand a chance. The Blight's were ran out of Kanto, and their family wealth was gone, so in the end my parents won."

Zala scowled before replying, "so your parents kicked you out of the house, because of a wound that couldn't heal because you were working too hard. Then, they burned down their mansion and blamed it on their rivals to keep their name after losing, just so no one would remember your loss?"

Dawn grunted angrily while clenching onto her bed sheets, "unfortunately that is who they are, they would rather outcast their child and tell the world she was murdered by an intentional fire then to lose their glory to the Blights in a Pokémon contest!"

Zala was shocked, she had always heard good things about the Nightgale's and when she heard that their daughter perished.. it was awful. The world hated the Blights when the news came up that they had caused a fire, but apparently they just were framed by the Nightgale's that just wanted to get rid of their daughter who was a failure and the blight's reputation all in one swoop. It was crafty and evil, and it burned Zala's soul with anger.

"You parents are truly evil, I cannot believe they did that to the Blights. I forgot that the Blights were blamed for the fire, I don't really keep up with Sinnoh news much, but it was the talk of the world for a good year. I cannot forgive the way they treated you either, why don't you come clean and tell the world what really happened?"

Dawn glanced to the side, "I can't, my parents said that they would let me live so they wouldn't have blood on their hands, but they would be forced to kill me if I were to tell the world what really happened. It may be cowardly for me to not want to die at the expense of the Blights, but my family is powerful I have no idea what they could do to me and anyone else that gets involved."

"Does anyone else know your story?"

"No, you are the first person to know about all this."

Zala cocked her head, "but why me, why would you tell some random stranger you just met?"

Dawn tapped her chin looking into Zala's bright blue eyes before replying gently, "I don't know, something about you… its strange.. but I feel like I was supposed to meet you. I feel safe, yet myself around you, it's odd for a stranger to make me feel this way.. but.. you do."

Zala was shocked, the way Dawn was looking at her she seemed to really connect with her in a way that Zala had never experienced. A friend…? Zala only had one friend, and he betrayed her years ago, so Zala was skeptical of this girl.

Zala popped up off the bed before Dawn could catch onto her growing scowl, "I am glad you told me, I will not tell a soul about your past, my apologies for all the judgment you get for your drinking habits, you are drinking to forget and I understand."

Dawn's face grew into a fearful expression, "wait are you just going to go?"

Zala turned around to face her, "yes there is no need of me anymore, you are safe, sober, and back home. I have things I need to do, and considering what you've been through I don't want to put you through more trouble."

Dawn hopped off the bed to grab Zala's wrist before she could go through the door, "w-wait I thought we were friends! We were bonding, why are you leaving?"

Zala ripped her arm away quickly, with a panicked look on her face. Dawn gave her a sympathetic look, as Zala swallowed her panic attack and refused to let herself show any signs of desperation.

"I-I don't make friends OKAY? Just leave me alone!"

Dawn jumped up, and quickly beat Zala to the door before sticking up her arms to block the doorway.

"No, I told you my life story you can't just WALK out and pretend we never met!"

"Yes I can!"

"Why?"

Zala huffed, "because I said I can, now move!"

Dawn shoved Zala back, making the girl grow wide eyed from her sudden aggression. "What the heck is your problem? Do you just not like opening up or something?"

Zala hissed, "I didn't properly introduce myself, my name is Zala I destroy Team Rocket for a living, and I don't make friends with dumb drunks that won't leave me alone! Now that I opened up, I won't ask again for you to move."

Dawn returned Zala's aggression with her own words of power, "I am NOT a dumb drunk, and just because you are hurting it does not mean you can lash out at other people, I'm not moving so you might as well sit down because we are going to be FRIENDS!"

Zala roared with anger, before shaking her hands in the air. She could snap Dawn like a twig, but for some reason she had compassion towards the girl.

Dawn thought for a moment, before her face lit up with an idea.

"I remember, you wanted information on Team Rocket… if I were to get you into one of their bases will you tell me why you don't like making friends?"

Dawn smiled inside when she saw Zala slowly turn her head to look into Dawn's eyes. She bit her lip knowing how much she wanted to go into a Team Rocket base, and Dawn knew she had her caught.

"Do… we have a deal, Zala?"

Zala murmured, as she ran through the options in her head.

Dawn squinted, she was losing Zala's interest.. perhaps she could spice it up a little.

"I also heard that in this certain Team Rocket base, the captain of all the Admin happens to be stationed there."

"C-Captain? You mean like the closest lackey to Giovanni?"

"Yeah… sure."

"Fine," Zala said as she took a large breath of air. "I agree to tell you why I don't make friends, only if you take me to the Team Rocket base."

Dawn grinned, she would earn Zala's trust in no time. Yet, something unsettling was in the air just thinking about breaking into one of the most dangerous crime organizations in history. Both of them seemed to feel the coldness in the air, they had no idea what was to come.

Zala trailed behind Dawn, as they crept along the stillness of the sunset. The sun's rays washed along the city, creating a beautiful vibrant array of colors plastered against the brightened sky. Zala was stealthy, but Dawn couldn't keep herself from giggling like an excited kid at a candy store.

"ooo, I have never had this much of a rush.. you think we are going to get caught?" Dawn giggled, grabbing Zala's arm and hopping up and down excitedly.

Zala stopped her moving feet, causing Dawn to be jerked backwards.

"I don't think you understand," Zala hissed. Dawn blinked in confusion, as Zala took Dawn behind a building alleyway, "Team Rocket is the most notorious and ruthless gang out there, this is no time to be excited!"

Dawn laughed, "sure it is, I am sneaking into a dangerous place with my friend! Definitely something I am going to cross off my bucket list."

"WE are NOT friends, we aren't even properly acquainted! Ugh, right now is not the time to be arguing, you said you would take me to the base… where is it?"

"Right here," Dawn said tapping a dumpster. Zala wrinkled her nose, as the smell of rotting food hit her nose.

"Yep you are still drunk," Zala said.

"For a Team Rocket hunter you aren't very smart," Dawn giggled. She knocked on the side of the dumpster, and something clicked on the other side. Suddenly the dumpster started to move until a tiny door stood behind it, made of pure thickened steel.

A large smooth screen was beside it, with a virtual "R" on the glass, and Dawn tapped the screen with a concentrated look.

"These things scan highly programmed chips that every grunt carries around. Each grunt has one that has their DNA and background on it, and it's the only way in and out of these places."

Zala nodded her head, she understood that Team Rocket was difficult to invade. She could punch the screen, but that would probably get them killed… UGH thinking hurt her BRAIN!

Suddenly Dawn started putting her hand down her shirt, and Zala watched in complete confusion as she pulled out a chipped tag. Dawn looked over to see Zala staring at her with wide eyes.

"What? You don't hide anything in your bra?"

Dawn put the chip up to the screen, and the Red "R," switched its color to green, allowing the door to open.

"Where did you get that chip?" Zala asked, before grabbing Dawn's arm preventing her from entering the doorway.

"Well it all started when I was talking to this guy, I was really drunk and-" Dawn stopped when Zala was looking at her with such confusion it made Dawn cringe, "you know what, I can tell you haven't experienced these things yet… I will tell you when you are a bit more mature adult wise.."

"What do you mean, I am real mature-"

Dawn hissed, "Huuuush.. we need to sneak in here without getting caught."

She grabbed Zala's hand, as they entered the darkness with the metal door slamming shut behind them.

"We need disguises," Dawn whispered.

Zala bumped into Dawn making her scream and punch the air, unable to see three feet in front of her.

"Will you shut it! It was just me!"

Dawn giggled, "sorry I just have so much adrenaline!"

Zala hushed Dawn before taking the lead, "you stay… here, this is not a place for your kind."

Suddenly the darkness lit up, and one warp panel flashed among the large room that they were in. Banners and paintings were decorated all along the walls, but the room was painted black and it was unsettling.

"I am going to go in there, and you are going to stay put. If things start happening you need to leave."

Dawn scoffed at Zala, "umm no way! You are just going to have all the fun without me and then break your promise to tell me what I want to know, I am coming with you."

"No, you aren't!"

"Make me!" Dawn yelled, shoving past Zala and running into the warp panel. Zala's face fell when she realized what Dawn was doing, before she could jerk Dawn out of the warp panel, Dawn was teleported away with her tongue sticking out at her.

"For Arceus sake! I am going to die, because of a mere women child!"

Zala hopped on the warp panel, and held her breath not knowing what was on the other side. When the lights cleared, she had been teleported to a large gathering area that seemed to have grunts tampering with tubes and large glass cages with gooey creatures inside.

The room was all white, and every grunt had on a uniform and some sort of ranking order. The ones that were scientists seemed to wear white, the lower class grunts had on the same uniforms and the higher grunts had on Team Rocket suits.

Something grabbed Zala from behind, and she was about to knock them senseless when she recognized the dark blue eyes of her companion. Dawn hushed Zala, before pulling her behind a large glass bin full of uniforms.

"Here," she whispered as she tossed her friend a uniform. "If we are sneaking in, we need to look like our enemy."

Zala didn't argue as she carefully put on the uniform, when she was done she had on a white plastic thick suit and thick gloves along with a mask. Zala could tell that no one could see through the mask, even though she could see out.

She turned to Dawn who was posing in the reflection of the glass bin, with a ridiculous giggle on her face. She wore a white crop-top that exposed her belly, with a giant red "R" on the front, along with sleek black gloves and a black skirt.

"I look pretty fabulous don't I? All of the grunts in here won't be able to take their eyes off me!"

Zala sighed, "this is not a fashion show! We are not here to show everyone up with our dumb getup! Put something on that helps you blend in!"

Dawn wrinkled her nose, "but everything behind the glass is so last year!"

"DAWN, I swear to Arceus-"

Zala stopped when she saw a few scientist approaching them, they both held their breath as they came closer until they were just inches away.

"You two, stop lounging around we have work to do!"

Suddenly one of them grabbed Zala's arm and started to drag her away, the only reason she didn't resist was because she was a tad bit curious to see what all this was about. Dawn seemed to be ignored by the group, and she pouted when she didn't receive any attention. She followed Zala closely, as she looked at all the liquid in the large glass tubes.

Zala was shoved next to a computer, but Dawn seemed to be grabbed and taken away from her. She started freaking out, as they started to drag her into another room. Zala put her finger to her lips, catching Dawn's attention and forcing her to accept their guidance and calm herself.

Zala was sweating profusely, not knowing what the grunts wanted her to do. The computer was flat and had smooth glass that seemed to connect to other computers in one giant "U" shape. She breathed quietly under her mask, as her shaking hand hovered over the computer.

Zala tapped the screen and flinched when it lit up, causing holograms to appear in front of her. She tapped on a glowing button under the glass screen, and the computer reacted to her touch, covering the screen in documents and half solved equations.

She spent a minute reading the research, quickly taking everything in.

 **Subject contained, awareness levels neutral, fail rate 60.**

 **Lungs developed, heart decrease brain fully operational.**

Zala swallowed, it seemed like they were growing something. They were playing God, creating life and playing with it; but Zala was not too worried they already grew Shadow and Lupe this was no different.

Zala kept reading.

 **Day forty five, subject twitches but has not awakened. Subject deemed alive, but not fully developed, needing samples of MN blood to continue further investigations.**

 _MN blood, what does that mean?_ Zala thought, sliding the documents to one side. Suddenly something caught her eye, some creature digitally created moved on the screen, showing off the way it ran and opened its mouth angrily. It was made of shadows, only the red eyes being shown.

Zala looked to the bottom of the creation, **Unknown Pokémon said to be lying dormant, cannot be found. Giovanni noted he wants the subject to inherit same traits needing MN blood. Impossible to track, said to be living in this era. Type: Unknown Description: Not much is known, only that it is the forgotten God.**

Zala's head was spinning, forgotten God? How can a God be forgotten, it makes no sense. Perhaps this so called "God" is just a code word for something else? While she sat there pondering, Dawn came slipping out of the next room whistling loudly thinking that was how she could get herself into stealth mode.

Soon she stood behind Zala, and shook her shoulders to get her attention.

"Wha? What is it Dawn?!" she hissed, as she whipped around and she jumped back when Dawn's eyes were full of pure panic.

"Can you just… come with me for a second?"

Her voice was shaking, and it seemed like she had lack of air.

Zala didn't question her, as the girl grabbed her arm and started speed walking to the other room. When the doors opened, it was pitch black and only a single large glass tank was stretching along the wall in front of them. Zala watched as something twitched in front of her, as bubbles came from its nose.

It had the same build as Lupe and Shadow, but large black flames emerged from its head and tail. Its snout was short, but its face looked extremely bony and ridged. It had long horns coming from the side of its head that was red, and its body was sleek and scaly. The body of the creature was a deep red, and its hands and feet revealed long sharp claws that caused them both to shiver.

"Zala, I don't understand what is that thing?"

Zala was furious, and Dawn could see the rage in her eyes as she stared at the creature.

"They are still DOING this? Growing false Gods in cages?!

Dawn looked over to Zala, "what do you mean? It isn't possible to grow a God!"

Zala walked up to the cage, placing her hand on the glass. This creature, Team Rocket was building a monster and it looked fully developed just not active. Shadow was not fully developed when they first met and Lupe was abandoned and left to die when he didn't come out the way the organization wanted him to.

Shadow warned Zala of how these creatures were, if their body was fully developed so was their brain and all of them are filled with extreme hatred for some reason. The failed experiments would scratch at their glass cages howling like a wounded mad man, until they popped.

Zala needed to destroy whatever this thing was, for she could feel the power emerging from its cage making goose bumps cover her skin.

Suddenly it got quiet, and before Zala could look away from the cage she saw the left eye slowly open.

Dawn bit her tongue stopping herself from screaming, as the right eye opened next. The creature turned its head, staring at Zala with curious yet aggressive eyes. She fell back, as the creature opened up its mouth and roared, causing bubbles to fly from its mouth and flailing its body.

"We have to get out of here GO!" Zala yelled, alarms came on as the creature started ripping the wires connected to its body. It banged on the glass, with such force the extremely thick bullet proof glass cracked.

Suddenly the door to the exit slammed shut, and Dawn stopped Zala from plowing into it. They both were scared out of their minds, as the lights burst in the room illuminating the entire area.

"Zala what do we do?!" Dawn cried, looking around the room.

Zala panted, she didn't know how to get out!

Suddenly they both heard tapping on a metal object, and they both looked up to see a balcony several dozen feet up above the glass tank. Someone was leaning into their hand, tapping the metal bars protecting them from falling.

"Who are you, and you better believe that if you don't let us out right now I will knock your teeth in!"

The person ignored Zala's threat, as they let their head fall into their hands while they watched the girls struggle to find a way out.

Zala could only see a strange mask covering the face of the person. Six horns stuck out from the mask, the closet one to their cheek was short and next up was medium; and the largest stuck out at the top of their head in a pattern on both sides. It also looked like there were four red eyes glowing from underneath the mask.

The person jumped from above the balcony, absorbing the fall as they fell gently on their feet. The person was no doubt a female, she had a sleek white and black outfit on, pressing against her skin to show off her figure. She carried nothing but her bare hands, that were covered in short black gloves with what seemed to be brass knuckles infused in them.

Zala took no time to charge, swinging at the female. She dodged effortlessly, grabbing Zala's arm and twisting it before throwing her to the ground with ease.

Zala was shocked, she completely countered her without breaking a sweat! Zala hopped up swinging once again, but was blocked by her sturdy arms defensively. Zala used her other arm to try and knock her head off her shoulders, but the female grabbed her wrist and head butted her. Zala weakened her arms as she staggered back, but losing focus broke her stance and she couldn't dodge the powerful roundhouse the female delivered.

Zala was knocked to the ground, but she rolled over and got back on her feet in seconds. The girl was silent, not moving a muscle as Zala charged again, this time she jumped out of the way, snatching Zala's mask in one swift movement and pinning her leg to where Zala tripped.

Zala's long hair fell out, once the mask was ripped away. Revealing her scowl towards the female.

"Zala, stop she is just playing with you!"

Zala ignored her comment, as her bracelet vibrated. "I was just warming up as well, but no more games you let us out or you get a pounding.. final warning."

The girl didn't say a word as she crossed her arms, Zala's snarl widened as the bracelet started to release a silver liquid across her body. It covered every inch before settling and revealing her powerful and protective armor.

The girl cocked her head, but still stood firm. Zala charged, as her axe formed in her hand along with her shield. The mysterious challenger avoided Zala's first blow, before blocking the shield bash with her arm. Zala gave it everything she had, but for some reason none of her attacks could hit her!

Zala threw her axe downwards, but the girl stopped the attack by grabbing Zala's arm. In seconds she started to twist, causing her to drop the axe and cry out in pain. Zala pressed her shield against the stomach of the girl, creating tension between the hold the girl had her in.

She let go, but not before there was a snap that came from Zala's wrist. She cried out in agony, as she stumbled back with a limp wrist. The girl didn't hesitate as she rained down powerful punches into Zala's protected head. She recovered, and started to block some of the girl's attacks, but left her stomach exposed and regretted it when the hidden masked girl kneed her in the gut.

Zala fell to her knees, the attacks were so powerful even with her armor on! She quickly got back up, and tried not to fall over but her vision was extremely blurry. Suddenly she felt a strong arm wrap around her neck, cutting off her oxygen flow. Dawn quickly jumped in grabbing the shoulder of the girl, but only to have the female knock her off with ease.

The girl took her left arm, and traced the outside of Zala's armor while she struggled. Zala's helm melted back, to reveal her head when she felt the girl press a spot on her side. Zala gagged, as the girl held her still, before sinking two fingers under her neck. In an instant, Zala collapsed on the ground unmoving when the girl released her death grip on her neck.

She carefully walked around Zala, crouching down and looking at the fallen warrior. The girl turned her head to look at Dawn, who was shaking under the gaze of the fierce fighter. She started to approach Dawn, without revealing any emotion. Dawn kicked her way to the wall, not knowing what to do.

"We are so DOOMED!" Dawn whimpered, as the shadow of the girl fell over Dawn's body.


End file.
